Odisha dairy co-operative to tie up with Amul

Bhubaneswar, July 15 : Odisha state-run dairy co-operative Orissa State Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (Omfed) on Wednesday said it is planning to collaborate with Amul to scale up its operations.

Bishnupada Sethi, chairman and managing director of Omfed, said it has already held discussions with top officials of the Gujarat-based milk major.

"Omfed will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Amul, which has a rich global experience in this field," Sethi told IANS.

The quantity of milk received at Omfed Plants has gone up and the surplus milk needs to be despatched to other states. So, Amul has agreed to receive Omfed Milk at its plant in Kolkata, he said.

Amul has assured to help Omfed in improving quality standards during procurement and processing, quality control and marketing its products.

"Amul will help Omfed in doubling the ice cream manufacturing capacity at Bhubaneswar dairy by sharing its expertise," he said.

Omfed's milk procurement from farmers has touched six lakh litres per day against an average procurement during 2014-15 of 4.45 lakh litres. It is now finding it very difficult to dispose off surplus milk, he said.

Omfed is planning to expand its capacity and a new plant will be set up soon with the funding support of NABARD under Rural Infrastructure Development Fund.

At present, milk is being sold by Omfed through 4,500 outlets across the state including 750 retail points in the capital city.

IANS