IIMR and VNRVJIET Secure Design Patent for Automated Millet Roti-Making Machine

Researchers from the VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Engineering & Technology (VNRVJIET) in Hyderabad, working alongside the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), have been granted an industrial design patent for an indigenous automated roti-making machine tailored specifically for millet-based rotis.

The collaborative research initiative was designed to tackle the time-consuming and labour-intensive challenges traditionally associated with preparing millet rotis at home.

Pranavanand Satyamurthy, Lead Researcher and Head of the Department of Electronics and Instrumentation Engineering at VNR VJIET, noted that the innovation is intended to streamline the cooking process. He stated that the technology seeks to make millet-based rotis faster, more convenient, and more accessible for Indian households, thereby addressing a primary obstacle in the broader adoption of nutritious millet diets.

Highlighting the consumer trends driving the project, Satyamurthy added that despite rising interest in healthier lifestyles among young Indians, the manual effort required to prepare millet rotis remains a major barrier. The newly patented appliance aims to simplify millet consumption while supporting the growth of domestic food-processing technology.

Financial backing for the initial stages of the project came from NUTRI-Hub, the incubation center associated with IIMR, which provided ₹3 lakh to support prototype development and design phases.

Looking ahead at commercialization and market accessibility, the research team has set a target to reduce the machine's retail cost to roughly ₹40,000. Current comparable models in the market are priced significantly higher at around ₹1.5 lakh.

"The patent granted to IIMR and VNRVJIET for an automated millet roti-making machine highlights the practical intersection of agricultural research and consumer hardware. By targeting the labor-intensive barriers of millet preparation and aiming for a more accessible price point of ₹40,000, this innovation addresses a real market need in the food-processing sector. Early incubation support from NUTRI-Hub demonstrates how targeted seed funding can help academic institutions translate research into tangible consumer products with scalable commercial potential." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes