After dairy success, Amul on path to secure green energy for India

After resonating with the dairy sector for years, Amul has decided to do a similar magic in India’s green energy revolution by trying to achieve what is not even thought about.

After receiving the annual business line 2023 Iconic Changemaker award, managing director of Amul marketer Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Jayen Mehta said Amul has already experimented with several projects.

Explaining in details, he said Amul has been taking steps to strengthen the circular economy of the country, which will empower, not just the producers but also the planet. Though cow gives milk for 300 days in a year, which is her lactation cycle, she produces dung every day, Mehta said.

“With the large number of cattle that we have, Amul has started the process again through its cooperatives to collect the dung. From the dung, what you get is methane and that becomes a biogas which can light the stove in the house of a farmer, even to run cars. And then what is left behind is also biofertilizer, which goes to the fields. And consumers can get food, which is produced without chemical fertilisers.

“It solves so many problems in one shot. The farmers get additional income from the dung that the cow produces, the import bill on fuel and fertilisers comes down and more importantly, the consumers also get food without the chemical fertiliser. So it’s a win-win situation. And what’s more, the more the technologies adopted from this methane, which is CH4, you can extract hydrogen.

“Once you produce hydrogen, that is the cleanest form of energy. This is what is the direction we are moving on to. We have already experimented several of the projects, both the small scale and the large scale. This will transform actually Amul from a food company or a dairy company into an energy company.”

Mehta said that this transformation is the collective might of not only the small farmers of Gujarat, but also of the entire India to build the energy security of the country. The biofuel alliance which the prime minister has announced will come into a reality, through this initiative, he said.

The Amul MD also said that as the dairy cooperative pays Rs 200 crore rupees daily, which goes to the accounts of the farmers, one-third of that goes directly in the bank accounts of women. This (energy initiative) is also a model which will demonstrate the power of women in leading onto this. “So this is what is a journey which is all encompassing taking care of the social transformation. It is inclusiveness, provides job opportunities and more importantly, nutrition and Atmanirbharata for 1.4 billion people for a vital item like milk and dairy in our lives,”Mehta said.

In a lighter vein, he also said: “You will see only two people at five o’clock every morning on the road. One is the newspaperwala and the second is the doodhwala. Always remember, these are the two set of changemakers who are working day in day out to make life good and interesting for all of us.”

Source : The Hindu Businessline Nov 4th 2023 by PRABHUDATTA MISHRA