It’s an utterly, butterly ‘turf
war’ as Amul enters UP
Hindustan Times
Lucknow, October 29,
2014
First Published: 19:50 IST(29/10/2014) | Last Updated:
22:16 IST(29/10/2014)
Uttar Pradesh is all set to witness a ‘milk war’ with the
state’s homegrown dairy leader Parag getting ready to take on the Gujarat-based
giant Amul.
The
Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, which manages the Amul
brand of products, will set up four modern milk processing plants following a
personal invite by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.
The state brand Parag is also run by a cooperative, the
Pradesh Cooperative Dairy Federation.
A senior official in the state dairy development department
said that Uttar Pradesh has achieved its potential “despite being the biggest
producer of milk in the country and home to the largest number of cattle”.
Parag is expected to face stiff competition as it produces
similar products like Amul –packed liquid milk daily, milk powder, ghee,
butter, curd and ice cream.
However, an official of the state cooperative said Parag was
ready for the challenge.
“You will see the changes soon. We have drawn up an action
plan that we are all set to roll out once it receives the nod of the state
cabinet within a fortnight or so,” said the official.
Already a household name in cities, Parag has decided to
expand, diversify and channelise into other areas with its own
‘melt-in-the-mouth’ array of new products.
The cooperative has drawn up a Rs. 100-crore modernisation plan including
revamping existing dairy plants in Meerut and Varanasi and enhancing production
capacity.
Amul, on the other hand, will set up four plants in Kanpur,
Varansi and Saifai besides Lucknow.
The state government hopes that lakhs of cattle owners would
reap direct benefit from these projects which will also provide direct and
indirect employment to many others.
It is estimated that each milk product plant will be set up
with around Rs. 150 crore and in addition to indirect
employment, 20,000 new jobs will be created directly
