De Laval to expand milk business

Buoyed by the interest shown by companies such as Reliance and JK (Singhania Group), dairy equipment manufacturer De Laval has braced up to expand the base of its installations in India.

Joakim Rosengren, chief executive officer, De Laval, said the company has plans to utilise the concept of community milking that saves the farmer the cost of owning and maintaining a milking machine.

Rosengren said the company's expertise in making milking machines for buffaloes, developed over the last couple of decades or so, will be drive its growth in the Indian market.

"The company's community milking installations in Kolar in Karnataka and Phaltan in Maharashtra have already seen the benefits of the concept as the milk yield has increased 20 per cent," Rosengren added.

The company is set to bring its proven technology to India to enable milk producers and investors set up large scale dairy farms with complete solutions in mechanisation and management, he added.

De Laval India managing director Hemant Ogale said the company has already received queries from companies such as Reliance, Amul and Raymonds for the supply of milking machines and cooling tanks for their mega dairy projects.

"We recently installed a 15,000 animal milking plant in Saudi Arabia which is the largest in the world. Based on this experience and expertise, we hope to fulfill the requirements of the corporate sector," Ogale elaborated.

He, however, said the company has solutions for farmers with even 10 or 20 animals. The company currently works extensively with the co-operative milk unions as well as some private dairy companies such as Govardhan Milk in Maharashtra, he said.

Ogale said the company has a marketshare of about 50 per cent in cooling tank business and close to 30 per cent in milking machines.

"We expect to grow 15 per cent year-on"�year for the next few years and may see a quantum jump if the big names actually go ahead with their plans," Ogale explained.

He said the company's manufacturing facilities at Karad in Satara district of Maharashtra are fully utilised and the company will have to go for expansion if the large projects fructify.

"The company has the land necessary to expand the facility and scale up production," he clarified.