IFFCO To Form Dairy JV With Foreign Company
INDIA - The Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative (IFFCO) is close to setting up a dairy project jointly with an overseas partner to cash in on the growing demand of milk, says a senior official. The company is likely to finalise a JV partner, either an American company or a New Zealand firm, within a couple of months, managing director US Awasthi told a press conference earlier in the week.
27 August 2010
2 minute read
The foreign firm will be an equity partner in the project that will require an investment of `1,000 crore and will be set up in the forthcoming SEZ in Andhra Pradesh. “We will begin with 6,000 high-breed cattle stocks and a processing capacity of one million litre of milk a day,” said Mr Awasthi.
India is the world’s largest milk producer with a production of 108 million tonnes a year. The demand for milk is projected to rise to 180 million tonnes by 2021. Amul is the biggest player in India.
The country’s nodal agency for dairy production, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), has chalked out a 15-year National Dairy Plan (NDP) entailing an investment of 17,000 crore (US$3.6million), for bovine productivity and milk production.
Iffco will sell milk under the Iffco Doodh brand name. Similarly, other products will be named as Iffco Cheese, Iffco Butter etc. The company plans to sell its dairy products in domestic and foreign markets.
Iffco is developing a special economic zone at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, Iffco Kisan SEZ, which will entail an investment of about `5,000 crore and will be spread over 2,600 acre. “The SEZ, which will be mainly dedicated to the farmers for producing agricultural and milk products, is expected to be completed by the end of next financial year,” said Mr Awasthi.
Farmers would own a part of the equity in the projects while co-operatives would continue to be the main channel for distributing the products.
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