Meet the Brother-Sister Duo From Ludhiana Growing Kashmiri Saffron Indoors With 17 L Revenue

When we think of farming, we think of vast lands, muddy hands, tractors cutting through fields, and seasons dictating everything, from sowing to survival. Agriculture, in our minds, is expansive, unpredictable, and deeply tied to nature. It depends on rain that may or may not come, soil that must cooperate, and climates that cannot be controlled.

But step into a modest, climate-controlled room in Ludhiana, and that entire imagination begins to shift.

There are no fields here, no open sky and no changing seasons.

Instead, there are racks, trays, and sensors and a carefully engineered environment where one of the world’s most delicate and expensive crops quietly blooms. Kashmiri saffron, often called ‘red gold’, grows not in the valleys of Pampore but inside a room in Punjab.

At the centre of this quiet disruption are siblings Asthika (25) and Shankar Narula (23), who, along with their father, Vikas Narula, are reimagining what farming can look like in modern India. Their venture, Grow Grower, is not just about cultivating saffron; it’s about blending technology, research, and family conviction into something that feels both improbable and deeply rooted.

How a banker’s idea became a family venture

The story of saffron farming didn’t quite begin with the brother-sister co-founders; it began with their father.

A banker by profession, Vikas Narula had no formal background in agriculture. But he had something just as powerful, curiosity.

“I was always interested in different cultivation methods and new ventures,” he says.

“When I started reading about indoor saffron farming, I learnt about the different techniques of controlled production and thought if that’s possible, why can’t we do it here?”

During the COVID-19 lockdown, while the world paused, Vikas leaned into research — studying global agricultural innovations, particularly indoor saffron cultivation in countries like Iran and the US. What stood out was not just the technology, but the opportunity.

Globally, saffron demand was rising. Supply, especially of high-quality Kashmiri saffron, was not.

That gap stayed with him, and he decided to do something about it.

The children weren’t immediately convinced. Both came from non-agricultural backgrounds, Asthika was a political science graduate at the time, while Shankar was pursuing his Bachelor’s in Computer Applications and were navigating their own career path.

But over time, curiosity turned into participation.

“We realised there is a huge gap between demand and supply,” Asthika says. “That’s when we thought this had real potential.”

What followed was not a quick pivot, but years of deliberate preparation. Between 2019 and 2024, the family immersed themselves in research, reading academic papers, consulting scientists, and even spending over a month in Kashmir to understand traditional saffron farming on the ground.

“We bought research papers from Google Scholar, ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research), ARCC (Agricultural Research Communication Centre),” says Shankar.

The science and technology behind indoor farming were complex, but not something they couldn’t manage. They also attended a few offline workshops to strengthen their understanding.

“To understand things better and in more detail, we also got in touch with Dr Ghilavizadeh Ardalan, a renowned scientist, and talked with him on a video call to understand things better,” adds Shankar.

“We knew you couldn’t plant even one seed without understanding the science,” Asthika explains.

By 2024, Grow Grower wasn’t just an idea anymore. It was a calculated leap.

Why saffron? chasing a crop where demand outpaces supply

Saffron is unlike most crops; it is labour-intensive, climate-sensitive, and incredibly valuable. Just one kilogram can require over 150,000 flowers, and its price can range anywhere between Rs 3 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per kg, depending on quality.

But what makes Kashmiri saffron especially unique is its quality — its deep colour, strong aroma, and medicinal properties. And yet, its production has been declining.

“Most of the saffron in India is actually imported from Iran, and authentic Kashmiri saffron is limited,” adds Asthika.

For the Narulas, this imbalance between demand and supply became the starting point.

Instead of competing in saturated agricultural markets, they chose a crop where scarcity already existed. And instead of relying on land, they turned to technology.

Inside the room: How Kashmir is recreated in Ludhiana

The facility in Ludhiana feels less like a farm and more like a lab and that’s intentionally created by the Narulas.

Using aeroponic technology, a method where plants grow in air or mist without soil, they have built a system where every environmental factor is controlled.

“At its core, there are four parameters — temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, and light,” Shankar explains.

Chillers regulate temperature. Insulated walls trap and stabilise it. Grow lights replicate sunlight. Fine misting systems maintain humidity. Sensors constantly monitor the environment.

“In a way, we are trying to create Kashmir inside a room,” he says.

The setup didn’t come cheap. The family invested approximately Rs 55 lakh to build the facility — covering seeds (corms) from Kashmir, infrastructure, climate-control systems, and vertical farming units.

And it wasn’t without setbacks. Early on, nearly 20% of their seeds were damaged during transportation due to heat exposure, forcing them to innovate antifungal treatments and recovery techniques.

“Initial days were a bit tough, understanding technology, maintaining the saffron buds and managing the flowers was a tedious task we learnt in the first year,” adds Vikas.

But beyond the technology, what truly shapes the farm is timing and process — each step planned months. The setup typically begins around April, since the corms need to be pre-booked and the room itself takes close to three months to be fully constructed and calibrated.

Once the facility is ready, the seeds arrive from Kashmir and undergo careful preparation before planting. 

“The first step is to clean the corms, what we call desilving,” Shankar explains. 

“After that, we treat them with antifungal solutions like neem oil to ensure there’s no mould or infection before plantation.”

Only after this process are the corms ready to be planted — either in soil or through aeroponics, depending on the setup.

From there, the cycle begins. Plantation usually happens around August, and within 3.5 to 4 months, the flowers are ready to be harvested by mid-November—mirroring the natural growing cycle in Kashmir.

What follows is just as crucial but less visible. After harvesting, the bulbs enter a multiplication phase from December to March, where new ‘daughter corms’ are formed. This is followed by a dormancy period from April to July — a resting phase that allows the same bulbs to be reused for the next cycle.

But slowly, the system stabilised.

From planting in August to harvesting in November, the saffron lifecycle unfolded exactly as it would in Kashmir, just indoors.

The first flower: When it all became real

For all the science and systems, the most defining moment wasn’t technical — it was emotional.

“When we got the first flower, my son called me. I could sense his happy tears and cried too. It felt like an achievement,” Vikas recalls.

It was a moment that carried more than just success; it carried validation.

Neither he nor his children had grown up around farms. There was no inherited wisdom here — only years of research, risk, and persistence.

“When you see something grow from your own effort, it feels magical,” he says.

That first bloom wasn’t just a harvest. It was proof that anything was possible, and they made it work.

Numbers that matter: Investment, revenue, and scale

Behind the emotion is a business that’s steadily taking shape.

In their very first season (2024–25), Grow Grower produced around 1.3 kg of saffron, generating approximately Rs 17 lakh in revenue, largely through exports to markets like Australia and Canada.

In the ongoing season, they’ve already sold around 500 grams domestically, earning close to Rs 9 lakh, with expectations to touch similar revenue figures by the end of the cycle through a mix of sales, training, and consultations.

Across two seasons, the venture has clocked nearly Rs 26 lakh in revenue, signalling steady early growth.

Their pricing reflects the premium nature of the product, ranging between Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,650 per gram in international markets.

But what’s equally interesting is how they’re scaling.

Today, Grow Grower has built a network of 30 partner farms across India, enabling them to aggregate production and cater to larger global demand, something a single unit cannot achieve alone.

“We guide them, they manage their farms, and we share revenues,” Shankar explains.

Roles, risks, and realities of modern farming

Within the venture, roles are clearly defined.

Shankar leads production by managing the farm, monitoring parameters, and handling research. Asthika oversees marketing, exports, and digital strategy. Vikas remains the knowledge anchor, guiding decisions and innovation.

But despite the structured setup, the journey hasn’t been easy.

“People think this is a quick-profit business. It’s not,” Shankar says.

“The return on investment can take four to five years, largely due to high electricity costs and infrastructure expenses.”

There are also learning curves that no research paper can prepare you for — from managing pests to understanding how many ‘daughter bulbs’ to retain for optimal yield.

“Some lessons only come when you actually do it,” he admits.

Looking ahead: Building an ecosystem, not just a business

For the Narulas, Grow Grower is not just about one farm in Ludhiana.

It’s about building a larger movement.

“Currently, Iran leads saffron production globally,” Asthika says. “We want India to contribute more and be a leader in saffron production.”

With climate challenges affecting traditional saffron farming in Kashmir, indoor cultivation offers a way to stabilise production and potentially scale it.

Their goal is to expand their partner network, aggregate supply, and make high-quality Kashmiri saffron more accessible — both in India and globally.

“There is so much demand that even if thousands enter this, there will be no competition, and all of us can cater to the demand of saffron collectively,” Vikas says.

In many ways, Grow Grower is a quiet reminder that agriculture doesn’t have to look the way we’ve always imagined it.

It can exist without land, without seasons, and without tradition dictating its limits.

It can begin in a banker’s curiosity, grow through a family’s persistence, and bloom in a room where Kashmir is recreated, one parameter at a time.

And sometimes, the future of farming doesn’t lie in expanding outward but in looking inward and asking: what else is possible?’

All images courtesy Shankar Narula

Source: 

‘The uncertain future of the world’s most expensive spice’ by Matt Stirn for National Geographic, Published on 15 January 2026. 

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thebetterindia.com