Dudhsagar Dairy to set up new facility in India

Indian dairy co-operative Dudhsagar Dairy plans to invest Rs3.5bn ($62.69m) to set up a facility in Haryana state by the end of 2012, as part of its plan to boost its milk supply to the national capital Delhi.

The plant, which will be located at Dharuhera industrial estate, will have a total processing capacity of 3 million litres per day (mlpd), of which 2.5mlpd capacity will be allocated for liquid milk, 0.25mlpd for buttermilk and 150 metric tonnes for yogurt and yogurt-based drinks.

Dudhsagar Dairy’s Rs1bn ($17.91m) plant in Manesar, which processes 0.97mlpd, has already reached its full capacity, and with the new project, the co-operative is seeking to become a leading milk supplier to Delhi, reported The Times of India.

The dairy co-operative plans to set up the plant in four phases, with the first phase scheduled to be completed by November 2012.

Following the first phase, the facility will have a processing capacity of 1.5mlpd, of which, 0.91mlpd will be for processing liquid milk, 0.1mlpd for butter milk, and 40 metric tonnes for yogurt and yogurt-based drinks.

During the second phase, the capacity for processing liquid milk and butter milk will be further expanded.

In the third phase of expansion, 0.5mlpd capacity will be added to the total capacity, taking the total capacity to 2mlpd, of which about 1.8mlpd will be allocated for liquid milk, 0.2mlpd for buttermilk, and 80 metric tonnes for yogurt and yogurt-based drinks.

The fourth phase of expansion, which will be completed by September 2016, will see an addition of 1mlpd, taking the total capacity to 3mlpd.

The co-operative currently supplies 1.15 million kg milk to Delhi through its Manesar plant and other leased facility at Ghogha in the National Capital Region.

Dudhsagar Dairy, also known as Mehsana District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union, is a member of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which markets dairy products across India under the Amul brand.

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Image: Dudhsagar Dairy’s new facility in Haryana, India, will have a total processing capacity of 3 million litres per day. Photo: Alessandro Paiva.