Mother Dairy to build Rs 500 Crores Dairy Plant at Nagpur
Delhi-based Mother Dairy has started the process of acquiring land to set up a dairy plant in Nagpur, Maharashtra, with investment of ₹500 crore to expand its presence beyond North India.
The unit is part of its ₹700 crore capex outlay planned for three-four years approved by its board last year.
The facility will produce both milk and valued-added dairy products, said Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable Pvt. Ltd’s managing director Manish Bandlish. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board.
“We are very soon putting up our plant in Nagpur. We are in touch with the ministries. We are making a plan, and in very advanced stages of land procurement. It will be a dairy and value-added dairy plant. We are planning a food processing plant in Karnataka. We have got internal approvals, and are starting the process. So, we will take 1.5 to 2 years,” said Bandlish on the sidelines of the World Food India event held in the Capital.
For the upcoming plant in Nagpur it has applied for the production-linked incentive scheme for food processing.
The unit will help Mother Dairy dominate the dairy, edible oil and frozen vegetables markets in north India as well as step up presence in south India, Bandlish said.
“For us, southern markets are not very big with regards to dairy—we have small presence in Hyderabad and Bangalore but not beyond. We are strong in north, west (Maharashtra) and in the east. Safal has pan-India presence while Dhara (edible oil) is in north not beyond that.”
The proposed plant will become a hub for the company for south and remaining markets, he added.
“Last year we increased our manufacturing capacities almost 20-25% largely in dairy products (value added product capacity increased significantly). We are geared up for next season. Besides we already got approval for ₹700 crore of capex from our board recently. Those investments will happen for the next couple of years both for Safal and for dairy.”
Mother Dairy sells packaged and toned milk apart from edible oils, fruits and vegetables, frozen vegetables, pulses, processed food like fruit juices, jams, etc. The move comes as demand for packaged foods and beverages has seen an uptick post the pandemic.
Source : The Mint Nov 6th 2023