Iffco to enter dairy sector in big way

After diversifying into power and other areas, Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (Iffco) is gearing up to enter the dairy sector in India in a big way with the collaboration of a multinational company and set up a dairy plant at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh.

The Iffco Board has already approved plans which include production of milk and milk-based products like butter and ghee, Iffco Director Pramod Kumar Singh said.

“We are seeking various clearances from the centre regarding our plans for dairy farming in collaboration with a foreign company,” said Singh. Iffco plans to import 600 high breed cows from New Zealand in the first phase to start the dairy business. The herd size of the Nellore project would be around 3,000-5,000 cows.

Under the plan, the Iffco is setting up a dairy plant at 160 acres of land at the Nellore area where it is planning to set up special economic zone (SEZ). “We have vast land at Nellore. So the land is not the problem,” he said.

Already, most of the ground works like survey visits to some foreign countries like New Zealand, Australia and China have been completed.

Iffco is seeking technical assistance from Fonterra cooperative group of New Zealand, which is a leading global player in dairy products and has large presence in continent like Australia, Asia and South America.

Iffco last year signed an agreement with Fonterra and Global Dairy Health to jointly explore the dairy business opportunities in India. “The synergy of the world’s two largest cooperatives – Fonterra and Iffco will be very helpful in the quality milk products,” said Singh.

When asked to comment on the proposed investment in the dairy business, Singh said “We have to seek clearances first before we can focus on the funding part. Anyway, funding is not an issue with us”.

During the past few years, Iffco had made forays in wide-range of sectors like power, insurance and telecom. The cooperative is setting up 1,320 Mw coal-based power project in Chhatisgarh with an investment of Rs 7,500 crore.