Banas Dairy to replicate Gujarat milk cooperative model in UP

Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest milk producer with the biggest livestock population, is looking to set up a successful cooperative model from North Gujarat’s Banaskantha District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union (Banas Dairy).

Currently, the organised milk sector in Uttar Pradesh accounts for less than 1 per cent of the dairy industry, and the State contributes only 20 per cent to the national milk production. Dairy sector experts say this has resulted in lower realisation from milk production.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is keen to build a robust milk cooperative structure in the State with the help of similar successful models to ensure remunerative prices to milk producers and generate supplementary employment from farming.

Banas Dairy, a member of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which sells milk products under the Amul brand, has in recent years showcased its technology and innovative practices to enhance farmers’ income and make quality dairy products available to consumers.

Shankar Chaudhary, chairman of Banas Dairy and Minister of State for health (independent charge) in the Gujarat government, told BusinessLine that at meeting on June 17, Adityanath was briefed on the prospects for the dairy sector in the State and the roadmap that Banas Dairy would adopt to support milk cooperatives in Uttar Pradesh.

“UP’s milk production is around 8-9 crore litres per day, of which only 5-7 lakh litres come from the organised sector. The key challenges are the absence of remunerative prices, the lack of cold chain facilities for storage and transport of milk, and the inability to add value,” Chaudhary said.

Uttar Pradesh has its own cooperative milk brand, the 55-year-old Parag-UP Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation. But it is unable to face up to direct competition with Amul even on its home turf.

According to Chaudhary, Banas Dairy will replicate its cold chain structure in UP. “We will provide bulk cooling units with a capacity of 5,000-10,000 litres in each village of eight districts (adjoining Kanpur, Luknow and Meerut). We have formed 1,500 local cooperative samitis (mandalis) in these districts, and they account for a milk collection of 300,000 litres per day (LPD), which we aim to increase to 22 lakh LPD by 2022.” The initial response from farmers has been encouraging, he added.

“Procurement prices have increased and because of us, other private dairies have been forced to increase their procurement prices, benefiting farmers,” said Chaudhary.

Banas Dairy has invested ₹450 crore to set up milk processing plants. “Our two plants near Kanpur and Lucknow have a capacity of 5 lakh LPD each. One more plant is coming up near Varanasi. We may pump in an additional ₹500 crore to expand the capacity,” he said.

Apart from milk collection and processing, Banas Dairy will provide assistance in animal care and providing healthy cattlefeed for better productivity. Banas Dairy, which , has a 2.000-tonnes-per-day cattlefeed plant in Gujarat, will look to set up a cattlefeed plant in UP.

Chaudhary is also looking at value addition in the form of premium category of desi cow milk. “Uttar Pradesh has its own native breed, and value addition in the form of desi cow milk in the premium category will fetch better value for producers. There is good potential in UP,” he said.

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