Amul plans to milk Kolkata mart

Kaira District Co-operative plans to set up processing facility by December

The Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Ltd (KDCMPUL), the oldest and largest milk producing union under the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), is set to foray into Kolkata with its liquid milk under the Amul brand name.

The union is planning to acquire or set up a milk processing and packaging facility at Kolkata to start its operations by the end of the current year.

"We are planning to start our operations in Kolkata and other major cities as well to enhance the liquid milk market and to get better prices for the farmers of our union. We are also planning to set up or acquire a milk processing and packaging facility in Kolkata by the end of this year," said Rahul Kumar Shrivastav, managing director, KDCMPUL.

Mother Dairy is the largest selling liquid milk brand in Kolkata, which is being marketed under the National Dairy Development Board.

The West Bengal government also sells its own liquid milk in the state which is produced at its dairy plant at Haringhata.

KDCMPUL is at present chalking out plans to be adopted for its entry into Kolkata. The liquid milk will be transported by railway tankers to Kolkata from Anand. The milk would be processed and packed in Kolkata and would be distributed through GCMMF's marketing network.

The union recently acquired and started a milk processing and packing facility near Pune in Maharashtra and started commercial production in January this year. The union is planning to enhance the capacity of the Pune plant by 25,000 litre per day to over 50,000 litre per day in the next two months.

It aims to be the leader in the Pune market in the next one year, over taking regional players.

The Union also plans to launch other milk products like flavoured milk, curd, among others in Pune.

On competition from Mother Dairy in Kolkata, Shrivastav said, "The Amul brand has proved its might in any market and the same is applicable to Kolkata."

The union has posted a turnover of Rs 546 crore in the financial year 2003-2004, which is higher by Rs 52 crore compared with the financial year 2002-2003.

It aims to cross the Rs 600 crore turnover mark during the current financial year.

KDCMPUL is also working on linking the dairy societies with the union's headquarter at Anand through an enlarged network using information technology and computerised online data transmission.