Amul to invest USD460 million for expansion in Indian market

India: Indian Dairy Major, GCMMF, which sells milk and dairy product under the brand name, Amul, will invest around USD460 million for expanding its business in India. The company has plans to set up new plants and to increase the production capacity of existing plants. The cash outflow will be done in coming four years. The new plants will be set up in Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal. Currently, the company is processing milk at a rate of 280 lakh litre per day and has target to process 320 lakh litre per day in coming years. Company’s current procurement rate of milk is 186 lakh litres per day.

In addition to this, the company is planning to enter into states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Kerala and North- East part to make their presence pan India. New plants in Kanpur and Lucknow will be operation in the coming two months whereas the cheese plant in Gujarat is expected to start soon. As of now, the company has 60 processing plants out of which 40 are present in Gujarat.

According to a recent report published by TechSci Research “India Dairy Products Market” Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2011 – 2021”, the market for dairy products in India is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 7% during 2016 - 2021. In 2015, North India dominated the country’s dairy products market, on account of increasing per capita expenditure, rising youth population, introduction of value added dairy products, changing consumption patterns, and growing penetration of international players. India dairy products market is witnessing a shift towards healthier products such as probiotic drinks, yogurts, etc. Few of the leading players operating in India dairy products market include Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd., National Dairy Development Board, Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd., and Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers' Federation Limited, among others.

According to TechSci Research, India is a strategic market for dairy business and has highest potential to grow up in the coming years and with increasing population in India the demand for the milk and dairy products is increasing which is pushing the dairies to expand their milk operations in order to meet the demands. Companies are opening such factories which are equipped with modern facilities so that they can offer value added products to the consumers. The companies in order to maximise the profits should offer dairy products which are different from the regular dairy products.