Amul to set up ice cream plant at Pune

Anand (Gujarat), Aug 17 (IANS) India's oldest dairy co-operative, the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union also known as Amul Dairy, announced on Wednesday that it will set up a state-of-the-art ice cream manufacturing facility at Khed City in Pune.

"Managing Director Amul Dairy K. Rathnam signed an MoU with Khed Economic Infrastructure Pvt Ltd on July 30, 2016," the company said in a statement here.

"Khed City is one of India's smart emerging industrial townships in Pune district, being developed over 4,200 acres by Khed Economic Infrastructure Pvt Ltd (KEIPL), a joint venture company between Kalyani Group and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC)," it added.

"Pune is our largest market for Amul ice cream and currently there is a supply shortage. We wanted a quick set up in and around Pune, and obviously, Khed City qualifies as our preferred destination," Rathnam said in the statement.

"We have got around 11 acres land in Khed City for our new dairy plant. The facility is planned to commence its operation in twelve to eighteen months with an estimated investment of over Rs 120 crore," he added.

Amul will manufacture ice cream and other milk products in Khed City, where the plant will have 6 lakh litres per day capacity, the company said.

"The direct beneficiaries will be farmers associated with animal husbandry for producing milk. The local milk producing farmers will now have access to nationwide established market," the statement said.

Amul already has 13 plants at Anand, Mogar, Khatraj, Kanjari, Kapdivav in Gujarat apart from those at Virar, Pune, Kolkata, Punjab, Siliguri and one in the US.