Milk War

It’s an utterly, butterly ‘turf war’ as Amul enters UP

M Tariq Khan

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