GCMMF to ink Rs 4,200 crore MoUs

VADODARA: Home-grown dairy major Amul will pledge investments worth Rs 4,200 crore during the forthcoming Vibrant Gujarat Summit (VGS).
The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) – the apex body of all district dairy unions of Gujarat that markets brand Amul — and its member unions will sign MoUs with the state government at the VGS pledging huge investments in the state over the next two years.
Of the 18 member unions of the federation, 12 district dairy unions will be signing the MoUs.
“We will be signing the MoU for expansion and setting up new dairy plants for milk processing, powder and cattle feed,” said GCMMF’s managing director, R S Sodhi.
With fresh investments, Amul’s milk processing capacity will touch 380 lakh litres per day (LLPD) from current 290 LLPD – a jump of 90 LLPD in capacity.
Similarly, the milk powder manufacturing capacity will touch 1,250 metric tonnes per day from the current 750 metric tonnes a day while the cattle feed manufacturing capacity will reach 11,250 metric tonnes a day from the current 7,800 metric tonnes a day.
GCMMF had earlier announced that it will invest, by 2020, over Rs 5,000 crore across the country for setting up or expanding its capacity.
“But Rs 4,200 crore will be invested entirely in Gujarat,” said Sodhi, adding that Banas Dairy itself will be investing Rs 1,350 crore for setting up a new dairy plant with 25 LLPD milk processing capacity, a powder plant, a cattle feed factory and an edible oil factory in North Gujarat. “Similarly, Amul Dairy will be investing Rs 450 crore for expansion of its chocolate plant and setting up new UHT milk plant while Sabar Dairy is investing Rs 400 crore for setting up a powder plant at Himmatnagar,” said Sodhi.
AmulFed Dairy at Gandhinagar (earlier known as Mother Dairy, Gandhinagar) will be investing Rs 400 crore to set up a powder plant at Bhat while Ahmedabad’s Uttam Dairy will be investing Rs 350 crore for setting up a new dairy and cattle feed plant at Ahmedabad.
Bhavnagar-based Sarvottam Dairy will invest Rs 500 crore for new dairy and milk powder plant while Surat’s Sumul Dairy too will invest Rs 230 crore to set up a powder and dairy plant.
“Our Valsad, Gandhinagar, Kutch and Amreli unions will also be making fresh investments,” said Sodhi.
“All these MoUs will be implemented. The growth in milk procurement has made it necessary to increase our processing capacity and enhance manufacturing capacity of products,” he said, adding that the federation’s network is currently witnessed 7 per cent growth in milk procurement which stands at 200 lakh litres per day.
There are 3.6 million farmers in Gujarat registered as milk producers in Amul’s network. Currently, there are 50 plants for milk, chocolate, cattle feed, milk powder and other dairy products in Amul’s network in Gujarat while outside Gujarat there are 14 other plants located in Delhi, Mumbai, other parts of Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
Last year, the GCMMF’s turnover was Rs 23,000 crore while this year it is targeting a turnover of Rs 28,000 crore. Amul brand’s turnover with unduplicated sales by its member unions is Rs 36,000 crore.