Union Minister for Home and Co-operation Amit Shah inaugurated Amul Fed Dairy's new milk powder factory, butter manufacturing plant, poly film manufacturing plant, and an automated warehousing facility in Gandhinagar on Sunday. The dairy has invested Rs 415 crores in these four projects.
The capacity of the new milk powder factory at AmulFed Dairy, which is a unit of GCMMF, has gone up from 35 lakh litres per day to 50 lakh litres following an investment of Rs. 257 crore. The expansion makes it Asia’s largest fully automated dairy.
The new butter plant triples AmulFed Dairy’s butter manufacturing capacity from 40 tonnes per day to 120 tonnes. The plant has been built with an investment of Rs. 85 crore. A new robotic high-tech warehousing facility, that will allow the dairy to store 50 lakh litres of long-life milk in carton packaging in high-density storage, has been built at a cost of Rs. 23 crore.
The new poly film packaging unit doubles the plant’s capacity from 20,000 tonnes per annum to 40,000 metric tonnes, making it the biggest poly film manufacturing plant in India. The expansion has been undertaken with an investment of Rs. 50 crore.
Speaking after the inauguration, Amit Shah said Amul has strengthened each of its three pillars with the new projects.
“The procurement by 36 lakh dairy farmers, processing of milk and milk products, and marketing of the final product to lakhs of consumers are the three pillars of Amul. Amul has strengthened all three pillars with these new projects,” he said and described Amul as the biggest example of the success of the cooperative model and women empowerment.
Stressing that the cooperative model is the ideal economic model for India, he said, “Other models may work in countries having population of 2, 10, or 20 crores, but only cooperative model can help in ensuring development reaches 130 crore people. It can make everyone a partner in growth,” he reiterated and urged Amul to start preparing its blueprint for the next 25 years when it will turn 100.
The Union Cooperation Minister also said that many farmers have turned to organic farming, and urged the GCMMF management to help develop the infrastructure for testing, distribution, and marketing of organic products to fast-track their adoption.
In his address, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the mantra of sab ka saath, sab ka vikas, sab ka vishwas, sab ka prayaas for the country's development. By ushering in prosperity in the lives of lakhs of dairy members, Amul has become an embodiment of this mantra. Amul has also made an unparalleled contribution in the success of the cooperative sector in Gujarat.”
