‘Highest in 60 years’ Dudhsagar Dairy declares record profit in FY 21-22

The Mehsana District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (MDCMPU) that operates the Dudhsagar Dairy in Mehsana in North Gujarat declared a record profit of Rs 321 crore “for the first time in 60 years of its existence”, during its Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Tuesday.

This profit, which is passed on to milk producing farmers, is about three times more than the previous year.

“For the first time in the 60-year history of Dudhsagar dairy, we have made a profit of Rs 321 crore for the year 2021-22. During the previous year, we had clocked a profit of Rs 105 crore,” Ashok Chaudhari, chairman of Dudhsagar Dairy, told The Indian Express after the AGM concluded.

The performance of the dairy in North Gujarat fares well for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during an election year. Chaudhari who was the former general secretary of BJP for Mehsana district had assumed power after defeating Congress rivals during the dairy’s elections in 2021.

The MDCMPU which is part of 18 milk cooperative unions in Gujarat was established in 1960 and markets milk and milk products under the brands Amul, Sagar and Dudhsagar.

“Our business also increased during 2021-22. Our turnover increased by more than Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 6,028 crore,” Chaudhari added.

The dairy collects milk from 6.5 lakh cattle rearers linked to 1200 village level milk cooperatives in Mehsana, Patan and Gandhinagar districts. It also collects milk from Rajasthan and Haryana.

The milk procurement of Dudhsagar has also increased during the last one year.

“Our peak milk procurement during last winter was 45.5 lakh litres per day. This includes procurement from both Gujarat and Rajasthan. During 2020-21, the peak milk procurement was 32 lakh litres per day,” Chaudhari added.

Apart from the plant in Mehsana, MDCMPU operates Dudhmansagar Dairy at Manesar and Dudhmotisagar Dairy at Dharuhera. Both the dairies are in Haryana. The union also has cattle feed factories with a total of 1,900 metric tonne per day capacity at Boriyavi, Ubkhal and Jagudan