Panchamrut Dairy plans processing plant

Panchamahals union to invest Rs 40cr for Panchamrut-3.

The rise in milk procurement has prompted a number of dairies in the state to go for capacity expansion.

After Banas, Dudhsagar and Amul, Godhra-based Panchmahals District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Ltd, also known as Panchamrut Dairy is planning to set up another milk processing and milk-based product manufacturing plant, 'Panchamrut-3'.

The union plans to invest Rs 35-40 crore for the project.

The union, in association with National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) aims to set up the plant within next two years. NDDB will provide the required funding and technical expertise for the project.

"We are planning to expand our milk processing capacity from the existing 4 lakh litre per day to 6 lakh litre per day. While our milk procurement is on rise --this peak season we are estimating around 5 lakh litre per day-- our existing milk processing capacity is around 3.5 lakh litre per day. Therefore we need additional 2 lakh litre milk processing capacity, for which we may shell out 30-35 crores. We will finalise the plan in the next three months," said Bhupendrasingh Solanki, chairman, Panchmahal District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Ltd.

At present, the union is planning to launch low cholesterol ghee under the brand name of 'AMUL'. “We have completed trial run for the project and it is expected to be launched in to the market by next three months," said RS Patel, managing director, Panchamrut dairy.

Panchmahal dairy, which has around 1,300 milk societies, plans to launch garlic, onion and ginger powder within next three months. The dairy is targeting the export market in the segment.

Apart from this, Panchamrut Dairy, which manufactures cattle feed under its own brand name, is enhancing its cattle feed manufacturing capacity from existing 100 tonnes per day to 150 tonnes per day.

As of today, almost 70 percent of construction work has been completed and the plant will be able to function at its full capacity within next four months. The dairy will invest around Rs 4.5 crores for the expansion.

For the financial year 2007-08, the dairy recorded a turnover of Rs 250 crores and this fiscal it targeting around Rs 300 crores.