Areca leaf exporter in Mangaluru gifts EVs worth Rs 20 lakh to five employees

Vignesh said the management wanted professionals who chose to work in a rural setting to feel equally valued and recognised for their contribution.

An employee of Agrileaf receives the key of an EV gifted to him Express Photo

MANGALURU: A decision to leave jobs in France, Dubai and Bengaluru and return to rural Belthangady paid off handsomely for five employees of an areca palm leaf tableware manufacturer as they were gifted Tata Nexon EV cars worth about Rs 20 lakh each as Deepavali present.

Belthangady-based Agrileaf Exports, an exporter of eco-friendly areca palm leaf products to over 20 countries, presented the five electric cars – together worth around Rs 1 crore – during its Deepavali celebration, Agrileaf Utsava-2026, at Nidle village on Friday.

The recipients are Shyamnandan Hillemane (Business Analyst), Vignesh P (HR Manager), Chethan NS (Production Manager), Jagannath P (Operations Manager) and Shreenath Abhyankar (Technical Head). Two other employees, Mithun and Santhosh, received Ather Rizta electric scooters valued around Rs 2 lakh each, while several others were honoured for their contribution to the company’s growth. In August, the company had presented electric scooters to some of the employees.

For Vignesh, the reward came as a surprise. “I never imagined I would receive a car as a gift,” he told TNIE.

Agrileaf awardees had left glam jobs to head home

With 16 years of professional experience, he joined Agrileaf two years ago after leaving a job in Bengaluru. He said all five recipients hail from Belthangady who had been working in places such as France, Dubai and Bengaluru before deciding to return home and join the company.

EV cars gifted to employees of Agrileaf at Nidle in Belthangady taluk | express

Vignesh said the management wanted professionals who chose to work in a rural setting to feel equally valued and recognised for their contribution.

Agrileaf manufactures biodegradable tableware from naturally fallen areca palm sheaths, providing an alternative to single-use plastic products. The company sources raw material from around 10,000 farmer families, creating an additional source of income for growers while generating rural employment, particularly for women. The company employs more than 320 staff.

The company’s products are exported toV more than 20 countries, making the Belthangady-based enterprise one of the country’s prominent exporters of areca palm leaf tableware.