Veteran cooperative leader and Sabar Dairy chief Jethabhai Patel was, on Wednesday, unanimously elected as Chairman of the prestigious Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets the Amul brand of dairy products in India and overseas.

 

GCMMF is Asia’s largest milk cooperative and apex marketing body comprising 17 dairy unions of the state. Patel would head GCMMF, whose turnover in 2014-15 was over Rs. 21,700 crore, for the next two-and-a-half years.

 

He was elected by chairmen of all 17 district dairy unions, who are also board members of GCMMF. Besides, the Registrar of Cooperative and GCMMF managing director are also on the board. With 16 of the 17 dairy cooperatives under BJP control, the State Government’s role in the matter of election was important.

 

Patel, having strong connections with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, was the Chairman of the Sabarkantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd (Sabar Dairy), Himatnagar, twice. He was already serving as acting Chairman of GCMMF since August 2014, after the ouster of incumbent Vipul Chaudhary in January 2014 for alleged financial irregularities.

 

Commenting on his election, Patel said the global dairy industry was in a piquant situation with a surge in production and decline in demand that has impacted the market adversely. Consumers and regulators like FSSAI were also becoming pro-active and vigilant about quality.

 

He said that GCMMF has set a target to achieve milk handling and marketing capability for 30 million litres per day by 2020 and turnover of Rs. 50,000 crore.

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