Economics of Atta Chaki Enterprise in Punjab: A study of an Agro-based Industry

Agro based industry is regarded as the sunrise sector of the Indian economy in view of its large potential for growth and likely socio economic impact specifically on employment and income generation. To study the socio-economic profile of entrepreneurs engaged and to economics of attachaki as agro-based village industries. The study was conducted in Fatehgarh district of Punjab by selecting 40 villages falling in the district with 33 entrepreneurs of attachaki enterprise. These were categorised into different farm categories according to their agricultural land ownership. The study revealed thatall the entrepreneurs were male and with average age of 45.5 years. An average agricultural land ownership of 33 entrepreneurs was 10.54 acres and average limit of credit were 1.70 lakh. Capital investment was highest for entrepreneurs who were landless ( 234625). Annual net returns were found highest in case of medium farm entrepreneurs ( 67247). By investing one rupee on fixed and variable resources of attachaki enterprise, an amount of ? 1.23 on an average in Punjab as is indicated by output-capital ratio in attachaki. This showed that there were net earnings of 0.23 which came to be 18.69 percent of total earning and remaining 81.31 percent was the total cost on an average in Punjab. Similarly benefit cost ratio at both variable and fixed costs were 0.47 and 0.23 respectively. Average payback period of attachaki enterprise were 6.08 years