Modi Naturals began as a single oil mill in Punjab in 1974 and spent five decades transforming into something rare in Indian consumer goods: a company that turns the entire rice grain into a business, from the oil in the bran to the ethanol in the broken kernels. The pivot came when the founding family’s second generation launched branded edible oils in 2013, shifting the company from a pure commodity trader to a branded FMCG player that now earns more than half its segment sales from packaged goods. The recurring approach is disciplined capital allocation - using cash from mature bulk operations to build higher-margin branded and ethanol businesses, each feeding the next.
Business segments
Three engines at different stages - a commodity cash generator, a premium branded consumer platform, and a green-energy bet scaling up - each built on the rice value chain and the cash flows of the one before.
1. Bulk oils and by-products: the commodity engine that funds everything else
One of India’s largest rice bran oil makers runs a lean, inventory-light model in the rice belt of Uttar Pradesh, generating stable cash flows with a geographical advantage competitors cannot easily replicate.
- Rooted in the rice belt - the division procures rice bran directly from mills across Uttar Pradesh, where paddy is abundant, giving it lower freight costs and faster turnaround than distant buyers.
- Sells every part of the grain - beyond rice bran oil, it produces de-oiled cakes for poultry and cattle feed, and rice bran wax used in everything from paper coating to pharmaceuticals and candles, so almost nothing is wasted.
- Leaner inventory, lighter capital - the division shifted to a model that optimises procurement cycles and reduces working capital locked in stock, which improves cash flow and agility when raw material prices swing.
- Passes on cost rises - long-term B2B supply arrangements let it push a portion of increased raw material costs through to customers, protecting margins in a thin-margin commodity business.
- Consolidated for efficiency - a solvent extraction plant in Pilibhit was shut down because it was no longer viable, and its volumes were absorbed by a nearby facility with spare capacity, cutting fixed costs without losing output.
2. Branded consumer goods: premium oils and packaged foods built for modern retail
The Oleev brand is India’s top ‘Goodness of Olive Oil’ franchise and the country’s third-largest premium edible oil brand, reaching 50,000 retail stores through 450 distributors and riding quick-commerce growth in pasta and snacks.
- The only player making multi-source olive oil in India - the company claims it is the sole player refining olive oil domestically and selling blended olive oil, which gives it a cost and freshness edge over importers who only bottle.
- A tiered oil portfolio for every kitchen - super-premium oils (Olivana extra virgin, Miller Canola) sit at the top; the flagship Oleev Active blends 20% olive oil with 80% rice bran oil for a high-smoke-point, lower-absorption cooking oil; commodity soyabean and mustard oils cover the base.
- Food is the growth lever - Oleev Kitchen pasta (100% wheat semolina, zero maida, 26 grams of protein per 100-gram serving) and peanut butter are among the top performers on quick-commerce platforms, while Pipo popcorn and Jynx powdered drinks stretch the brand into snacking and beverages.
- Asset-light where it counts - pasta and peanut butter are outsourced, and the Hyderabad and Sonipat packing units are leased, so the division scales without heavy factory investment.
- Modern trade and quick-commerce ready - products are listed on Amazon, Metro Cash & Carry, BigBasket, DMart, Spencer’s, Swiggy Instamart, Flipkart, Blinkit, more, Zepto, and Jio Mart, and the division runs a professional FMCG structure with a chief marketing officer and dedicated heads for organised retail and e-commerce.
3. Ethanol: the green-energy bet built on broken grain
A grain-based distillery in Chhattisgarh turns surplus and damaged rice - and increasingly maize - into fuel ethanol for India’s blending programme, with a cogeneration plant that burns its own husk waste for power.
- First-mover in grain-based ethanol - the Raipur plant was one of the earliest greenfield grain-based distilleries in Chattisgarh, built on the parent company’s decades of experience sourcing grain and managing by-products.
- Location is the structural advantage - Chhattisgarh is described as the only Indian state that gets three crops a year, and the plant sits close to both raw material procurement and oil depots for distribution, cutting inbound and outbound logistics costs.
- Built in phases, now at scale - Phase I started at 130 kilolitres per day in late 2023; Phase II added 152 KLPD in FY26 to reach 282 KLPD, with plans to optimise further to around 320 KLPD.
- Waste fuels the plant - husk from the grain is burned to generate power, and a 5.5 MW cogeneration unit supplies the distillery, saving on both fuel and electricity costs.
- Multiple revenue streams from one process - beyond ethanol sold to Oil Marketing Companies under the government’s blending mandate, the plant sells DDGS (dried distillers grains for animal feed) and CO2 separately, so the economics do not rest on ethanol alone.
Group structure and partners
A parent company running consumer and bulk oils, with a wholly owned subsidiary ring-fencing the ethanol business - and the founding family still at the controls.
- Modi Naturals Ltd is the listed parent, housing the branded Consumer Division and the Bulk Division, and representing roughly two-thirds of consolidated net assets as of March 2026.
- Modi Biotech Private Limited is the wholly owned ethanol subsidiary, incorporated in April 2021 specifically to build and operate the Raipur distillery, keeping the capital-intensive green-energy project separate from the parent’s balance sheet.
- No joint ventures or associates - the group structure is deliberately simple, with only the parent and one subsidiary.
- Family leadership spans two generations - Mr. Anil Modi (Chairman and Managing Director, on the board since 1976) and his son Mr. Akshay Modi (Joint Managing Director, who conceived the branded oils launch in 2008) run the company alongside Ms. Aditi Modi as Whole Time Director.
- Credit profile is strengthening - the company’s long-term rating was upgraded to IVR BBB/Stable in FY26, with total rated bank facilities of Rs 65 crore, reflecting improving financial health as the ethanol plant scales.