Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday appealed to farmers and other stakeholders associated with the cooperative sector to make GCMMF, which owns the 'Amul' brand, the world's number one dairy company from its current eighth position.
He was addressing nearly one lakh people, mostly cattle rearers and farmers, gathered at the Narendra Modi stadium in Motera area of Ahmedabad for the golden jubilee celebration of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).
Giving an overview of India's booming dairy sector, Modi said it is growing at a rate of 6 per cent per annum while the global dairy sector is growing at 2 per cent.
"At present, Amul (GCMMF) is the world's eighth biggest dairy sector company. You all need to make it the world's biggest dairy company.
"My government is with you in this endeavour, and it is Modi's guarantee," the PM said in his address.
He was accompanied by Gujarat Governor Acharya Devvrat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and state BJP president CR Paatil.
"Amul was established as Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union under the guidance of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and later on the GCMMF came into existence.
"The GCMMF is a model which showcases how the cooperative sector and government can work together.
"Thanks to that model, India has become the world's biggest milk producer today," Modi said.
"In ten years, India's per capita availability of milk has increased by 40 per cent. While the world's dairy sector is growing at 2 per cent, India's growth rate is 6 per cent," he added.
Modi said the Indian dairy sector's total turnover stands at Rs 10 lakh crore, much higher than the combined turnover of paddy, wheat and sugarcane production.
"Women are at the forefront in this sector. Of the total workforce engaged in the dairy sector, 70 per cent are women.
"Amul has reached new heights because of the contribution of women.
"To make India a developed country, it is necessary to increase women's financial power," he said.
The prime minister said of all the brands which have emerged in India after independence, 'Amul' is the most popular one.
"Brand Amul is the identity of the capabilities of cattle rearers.
"Amul products are now sold in more than 50 countries. A network of 36 lakh farmers and 18,000 cooperative societies produce 3.5 crore litres of milk worth Rs 200 crore daily," he said.
The PM said previous governments at the Centre used to look at the requirements of villages "in pieces" while his government's focus is to improve the lives of small farmers.
"It is necessary to have a strong rural economy. Our focus is on improving the lives of small farmers, improving the health of livestock and how farmers get more income through allied activities such as fishing and bee-keeping," he said.
Referring to solar panel installations in fields and setting up of biogas plants which in turn produce bio-fertiliser from cow dung, the PM said his government wants to turn "anna data" into "urja data" and "uvarak data" (food grain growers into energy and fertiliser producers).
Modi said the BJP government led by him has created a fund of Rs 1 lakh crore to help cooperative societies and another fund of Rs 30,000 crore is also created to strengthen the infrastructure related to cattle-rearing.
On the occasion, the PM inaugurated five new dairy projects, including a modern cheese plant of Sabar Dairy, which has come up with an investment of Rs 600 crore, a long-life tetra pak milk plant of Amul Dairy at Anand and the expansion of its chocolate plant.
He also inaugurated a 50,000-litre ice cream plant of Sarhad Dairy in Kutch, a unit of Bharuch Dairy coming up in Mumbai.
The GCMMF was set up in 1973 with an annual turnover of Rs 20 crore, the federation's managing director Jayen Mehta said on Wednesday.
"In the last 50 years, it has emerged as the country's number one FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) organisation, with the Amul brand set to achieve a turnover of Rs 80,000 crore, and Amul Federation a turnover of Rs 61,000 crore this financial year,” Mehta said.
