Kamal Kumbhar is an Indian social entrepreneur, “ serial entrepreneur”. She is the founder of Kamal Poultry and Ekta Producer Company.

Early life

Kamal Kumbhar was born in Osmanabad, Maharashtra to a daily-wage labourer. She lived in

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

and grew up without access to education. She married at a young age and after that failed, she was financially vulnerable.

Career

Kumbhar joined women's

self-help groups {{short description, None This is a list of self-help organizations. Twelve-step programs Recovery programs using Alcoholics Anonymous' twelve steps and twelve traditions either in their original form or by changing only the alcohol-specific ref ...

and started a small business selling

bangle Bangles are traditionally rigid bracelets which are usually made of metal, wood, glass or plastic. These ornament are worn mostly by women in the Indian subcontinent, Southeastern Asia, Arabian Peninsula, and Africa. It is common to see a bride ...

s from an investment of 500 INR. Two years later, she was leading a women's federation in

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

. She started Kamal Poultry and Ekta Producer Company in 1998 with no knowledge of business or marketing, with an investment of Rs 2,000. The company sells about Rs 1 lakh every month. She has mentored more than 5,000 women from her state to set up similar enterprises and become self-sufficient. In 2012, she became a clean energy entrepreneur and lit up over 3000 homes with solar-powered devices, after training as an “Energy Sakhi” in SSP ’s “women in clean energy program”, which trained over 1100 women across Maharashtra and Bihar. She owns six business ventures earning the

moniker A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

“serial entrepreneur”. She owns a range of agriculture-allied businesses.

Awards

* CII Foundation's Woman Exemplar award from President Pranab Mukherjee * Women Transforming India Award, 2017, organized by United Nations and NITI Aayog.

References

21st-century Indian businesswomen 21st-century Indian businesspeople Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{India-business-bio-stub