Idea on a leaky platter
IT was an idea that came to him, literally on a platter. A leaky curry platter on the platform of an old railway station. It was 1987 and Lonappan Panthalookaran and his wife were on a train to Kolkata. His wife was appalled at the curry leaking through the plate made of dried leaves sewn together that they had bought at a small Orissa railway station. ‘‘She said she wished they had made the plates from something that wouldn’t leak, like areca nut palm leaves,’’ says Lonappan. His wife’s words came to him each time he looked at the swaying areca nut palms shedding their leaves in his native Kerala. Soon this rice trader-turned-umbrella maker in Thrissur was on his way to becoming a green entrepreneur.
He worked out that all that was needed to turn areca leaves into plates and utensils using a few a simple contraptions. It didn’t need elaborate or expensive technology—just a basic heat press and manual punchers. He started out with four people and a small room, an electric connection for the heat press, and a one-time spend of just over Rs 1 lakh a unit, or about Rs 18,000 a machine.
‘‘We now have over 160 fully functional units all over Kerala. On an average, each unit of up to five workers makes a daily profit of at least Rs 750,’’ says Lonappan. Three years ago, Lonappan went to New Delhi and wrangled a meeting with Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Lalu was enthused, and soon announced in Parliament that the Railways would use areca leaf plates. ‘‘We now sell a huge chunk of our plates to the Railways in Kerala and neighbouring states,’’ says Lonappan. He already has units functioning in all the four southern states and has ventured in Assam too. What began as a small idea in small Orissa station is now spreading wing. Lonappan has been in talks with a few big venture capitalists in the US who have expressed an interest in teaming up with him.
-RAJEEV PI

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