Amul to set up 9 new plants in next 4 yrs

The capacity will soon increase to 18 million litres per day

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), the maker of Amul dairy products, will invest Rs 3,000 crore to set up nine new plants and expand the capacity of existing facilities in the next four years.

"In the next four years, we are investing around Rs 3,000 crore in setting up nine new plants and the capacity of the existing 40 plants will be increased," federation's Managing Director R S Sodhi told reporters at the launch of Amul Pro, a protein-rich beverage, in Andhra Pradesh market here today.

"We have 14.5 million litres per day capacity and it will reach to 18 million litres per day after the expansion," he added.

He said four new plants would be set up in the Saurasthra region of Gujarat. The federation will set up two plants in Delhi and one each in Maharashtra, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh.

Sodhi said they increased the milk procuring price by almost 50 per cent in the last three years to farmers in order to keep the activity lucrative.

He said current generation of farmers is not finding milk business as viable and the situation may lead to depend on imports like other Asian countries.

"So we thought if we do not take up this seriously, India will become like other Asian countries such as Pakistan which depend on import of milk. We took a lead and increased price to farmer," he explained.

According to Sodhi, the GCMMF currently pays including bonus Rs 34.40 for buffalo milk and Rs 22.50 for cow milk.

Replying to a query on exports to European Union, Sodhi said conditions such as using machines for milking is deterrent for exports. "In India you cannot get milk with milking machine... It is impossible."

He said GCMMF expects to achieve Rs 30,000 crore turnover by 2020.