If Dr Verghese Kurien is to be credited for turning around the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) into an institution, his protégé, Rupinder Singh Sodhi, can well be credited for crafting a corporate out of an institution called ‘Amul’.

As former Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Limited (GCMMF), Sodhi made Amul as a force to be reckoned with in dairy products and in the food and beverages market. Sample this: In October of 2020, GCMMF, that markets the Amul brand, underwent a major product diversification by launching a milk-based soft drink AmulTru Seltzer taking a plunge into a market dominated by the MNCs.

After retiring as MD in January this year, Sodhi is now being roped in by India’s largest corporate—Reliance Group—for its retail venture in an advisory role. For the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate, it is an opportune moment to have Sodhi’s expertise to take on the MNCs amidst stiff competition from retail majors such as Amazon and the Walmart-funded Flipkart.

After completing his agricultural engineering from College of Technology and Engineering (CTAE), Udaipur, Sodhi joined the first batch of the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) for a PG degree, after which he joined GCMMF in 1982 as a sales officer.

Despite being a representative of a dairy farmers’ organisation, Sodhi’s quick decision-making, bold moves to venture into uncharted territories and his courage to take on international giants, honed him to be a tough corporate leader while keeping his eyes on his farmer ‘owners’ interests.

Sodhi always knew how to balance the two key stakeholders—dairy producers and consumers. His cost economics and revenue models revolved around protecting their interests, while giving the corporate competitors a run for their money.

His grounded personality helped him climb the organisational ladder to eventually helm GCMMF in 2010. Under his 12 years of leadership, the dairy major launched over 100 new products in a variety of categories, 60 of which were launched during the Covid lockdown of 2020 alone. The turnover grew manifold from ₹8,005 crore in 2009-10 to ₹46,481 crore in 2021-22.

In January 2023, when the GCMMF Board of Directors terminated Sodhi’s services as MD with “immediate effect”, it left several unanswered questions on his sudden exit. Though the 62-year-old dairy veteran’s resignation was imminent given that he was on the second extension since December 2020, his unceremonious ouster without a fitting send-off, points at an unexplained unease behind the scenes.

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