Poynad, a farming village near Alibaug, Konkan

SharmillaOswal

Proud daughter of soil.

India knows her as the Millet Woman. She works where soil, water and food meet, so that farmers earn more and families eat better.

Scroll. Her story grows upward, like a tree.

जड़Roots

She grew up where millet was the daily roti.

Poynad is a small village of farmers. Jowar, bajra and nachni were on every plate, and every family knew what a bad monsoon costs.

She studied on scholarships, trained in law, and earned an LLM from the University of Nottingham. A career abroad was waiting. The press later called her the “girl from Ghunghat to Harvard”.

She chose to come home and work for the people she grew up among.

जलWater

Before the grain, there was water.

In 2009 she founded the Green Energy Foundation in Pune and led it for thirteen years. Its work covered water, farming, environment and energy.

OasisFarmers and sustainable water management
ArunodayaLighting tribal villages in Maharashtra
UdaanLivelihoods for women
Switch 2 GreenEnergy conservation and rainwater harvesting

She trained in water governance and policy at the National University of Singapore, and in agro-water and food security diplomacy at MIT.

अन्नGrain

The grain her village never forgot became a national movement.

Millets need little water, survive poor soil and feed people well. She founded the India Millet Mission in 2020 to bring them back to farms and kitchens, and spoke as a keynote at the Global Millets Conference in 2023, the International Year of Millets.

The Prime Minister told her story in the 97th episode of Mann Ki Baat. It appears again in the coffee table book released for the 100th episode.

ज्वारJowar
बाजराBajra
रागीRagi
कंगनीKangni
कोदोKodo
कुटकीKutki
सांवाSanwa
चीनाCheena
हरी कंगनीBrowntop

हाथHands

A harvest means little until it reaches the hands that grew it.

With her son Shubham she built Basillia Organics and its brand Gudmom. Registered farmer clusters grow without pesticides or chemicals under APEDA certification, and the company turns their millets into food that sells in cities.

Women's self-help groups do the processing and run their own small businesses. In Meghalaya, a farmer producer organisation sells its high-curcumin turmeric through the same route.

1,00,000+ womenDigital Women Warriors, the community she founded to teach women to sell online
JITO Ladies WingFounder Chairman

राष्ट्रNation

Nation first, in the rooms where farm policy is written.

Since 2023Board Member, APEDA, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
Since 2025Director, Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture
Since 2020Managing Director, Basillia Organics
2022 to 2025Director, Pahlé India Foundation, Centre of Excellence for Smart Agriculture and Millets

Honours

Agriculture Visionary of IndiaTHE AGRI100 Awards, 2026
Best Millet EntrepreneurICAR Indian Institute of Millets Research
Poshak Anaj AwardFor Gudmom, 2022
Rashtriya Gaurav Puraskar
Water Woman of India
Social Impact and Earth Care AwardsThe Times of India

विश्वWorld

From one village's fields to the world's table.

Basillia now works on certified organic exports, with the aim of making India the organic food basket of the world. She advises state governments, farmer producer organisations, women's groups and start-ups on how to get there.

She is Vice Chairman of JAINA USA India and speaks at forums on climate, water and food security in India and abroad.

संपर्कContact

Write to Sharmilla Oswal.

For speaking invitations, advisory work, partnerships with farmers and media requests.

Inner peace is the most expensive luxury today.

Sharmilla Oswal, President of the Indian Council for Conscious Civilisation since 2026