On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the golden jubilee festivities of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), renowned for its ‘Amul‘ brand. As per an official statement by a representative of the dairy giant, the Prime Minister will also unveil five projects amounting to INR 1,200 crore. Jayen Mehta, the managing director of GCMMF, mentioned that the federation will deliberate on its vision for the forthcoming 25 years during the event.
More than 1.25 lakh dairy farmers, including representatives from approximately 18,600 villages in Gujarat, are expected to attend the event at the Narendra Modi Stadium in the Motera area of Ahmedabad. Mehta mentioned that 40-45 percent of the dairy farmers in attendance will be women.
Mehta said that the federation was established in 1973, with an annual turnover of INR 20 crore.
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“In the last 50 years, it has emerged as the country’s number one FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) organisation, with the Amul brand set to achieve a turnover of INR 80,000 crore, and Amul Federation a turnover of INR 61,000 crore this financial year,” he said.
Apart from PM Modi, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah, Union Animal Husbandry Minister Parshottam Rupala and Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel will also remain present during the golden jubilee celebrations, he said.
During his visit, Modi will inaugurate five new dairy projects, including a modern cheese plant of Sabar Dairy, which has come up with an investment of INR 600 crore, a long-life tetra pak milk plant of Amul Dairy at Anand and the expansion of its chocolate plant, he said.
The PM will also inaugurate a 50,000-litre ice cream plant of Sarhad Dairy in Kutch, a unit of Bharuch Dairy coming up in Mumbai, along with various dairy development works under government schemes in the state’s Saurashtra-Kutch region.
“The total investment of the projects is INR 1,000-1,200 crore. On February 23, during his Varanasi visit, Modi will inaugurate a plant of Banas Dairy which has come up there with an investment of INR 600-700 crore,” he said.
Amul’s vision for the next 25 years will also be discussed on Thursday, he said.
Even as each of GCMMF’s 18 milk cooperative members takes the initiative to raise its milk handling capacity, they are expanding by setting up new plants in the state and other parts of the country, Mehta said.
Amul plans to invest INR 11,500 crore in the next 2-2.5 years as part of the MoUs (memorandums of undertaking) signed at the World Food India event organised in New Delhi in November last year, Mehta said.
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“At the event, organisations from different countries made investments of INR 33,000 crore, out of which MoUs for investment of INR 11,500 crore were signed by Amul alone. We will make investments in the dairy processing and collection system as well as setting up ultra modern processing plants, among others,” Mehta said.
He said the investments will largely be made in Gujarat. Member cooperatives will also invest in Varanasi, Rohtak, Ujjain, Mumbai, Goa, Pune, and Kolkata, he added.