While inaugurating the cattle-feed plant of Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (Amul Dairy), President Pranab Mukherjee said the ‘Amul model’ is worthy of emulation in other agricultural areas as well.
President said the Amul experiment has brought about a socio-economic revolution in rural India. It is the responsibility of the current generation of farmer leaders, professionals and stakeholders to expand this experiment so as to benefit millions of farmers across the country, the President said.
The plant has the capacity to produce 1000 tonnes of feed per day expandable to 2000 tpd. The green 0field plant is spread over 24 acres with a built-up area of 47,000 square meters.
The fully-automated plant has been designed and constructed by Amul Dairy, Anand in co-ordination with Andritz Feed & Biofuel, Denmark and executed by Andritz Technologies, Chennai.
According to GCMMF MD R.S.Sodhi, the plant has been set up with an investment of Rs 200 crore. The total feed making capacity under Amul is now 8,000 tonnes per day spread across 15 plants. There will be an addition of another 1,500 tpd capacity in the next two years, R S Sodhi said.
GCMMF is investing Rs 800 crore to Rs 1,000 crore every year in Gujarat and outside the state and expects to invest about Rs 5,000 crore in the next five years. Sodhi added that the company’s focus continues to be the domestic market.
Amul, which is exporting its products, including cheese and ghee, to countries where there is high concentration of NRIs like the US and Middle East, will continue to focus on the domestic market where the demand is growing, Sodhi said.
With a turnover of Rs 8,000 crore in 2009-10, Amul touched Rs 20,700 crore turnover mark in 2014-15 fiscal.
The GCMMF is eyeing a turnover of Rs 50,000 crore in 2020-21, said Sodhi.