Decks cleared for GCMMF’s second largest milk processing plant in Gujarat

Nimesh Khakhariya

Rajkot: All decks have been cleared for Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation’s (GCMMF’s) second largest milk processing plant in the state which will come up near Rajkot. The district collector here has identified 72 acre land on Bhavnagar road on the outskirts of the city. Earlier a land parcel identified by the Rajkot district authorities was rejected by GCMMF because of its high price.

GCMMF, which markets products under the brand name Amul, has a milk processing plant in Gandhinagar district with the capacity to process 50 lakh litres of milk per day. Currently, the excess milk from 12 districts of Saurashtra and Kutch regions is sent to GCMMF’s Gandhinagar plant. The milk cooperatives in the region produce about 45 lakh litres of milk every day of which 15 lakh litres is consumed locally and the excess 30 lakh litres is transported at the cost of about Rs 30 lakh per day to Gandhinagar plant of GCMMF. Once the second plant in Rajkot is ready, the GCMMF will save on the transportation cost.

According to GCMMF, the land parcel for the new plant has been identified in Gadhka village of Bhavnagar. The Rajkot district land valuation committee had earlier this month fixed a price of Rs 100 crore for the land parcel. The land belongs to two villages and is classified as government wasteland. The proposal for the land deal with GCMMF has been sent to the state government for formal approval.

Earlier 100 acre land was identified near Anandpar for the same plant. But was rejected by GCMMF because the price of the land was around Rs 275 crore. GCMMF plans to install a milk processing unit with the capacity to process 30 lakh litres of milk per day. The cost of the machinery alone is estimated to be Rs 300 crore.

Valamji Humbal, vice chairman of GCMMF told TOI, “The price of the new land parcel seems reasonable. We are going to meet the chief minister in a week with a request to expedite the approval of the proposal forwarded by the district collector. We will also seek a discount on the land price.” According to Humbal, GCMMF wants to start construction work on the milk processing plant as soon as it gets possession of the land.

Milk products like chocolate, butter, cheese, ice cream, shrikhand (yogurt) will also be produced at the new Rajkot plant, said Humbal. The dairy in various districts of Saurashtra and Kutch use milk for local consumption and also process it to make curd, buttermilk and ghee.