Amul Procures Record 164L Kg Milk Per Day Vadodara: Gujarat—the cradle of India’s White Revolution—has beaten Punjab in milk production by emerging as the fourth largest milk producing state of India, world’s largest milk producer. Amul, the homegrown milk brand, marketed by Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) on its part is registering an all-time record high milk collection this winter making the US $3.6 billion brand even stronger. Earlier, Punjab enjoyed the fourth rank in terms of milk production. The latest milk production data has revealed that Gujarat’s milk production has risen to 269 lakh kilogram per day pushing Punjab to fifth position with 261 lakh kilogram per day worth milk production. Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh have managed to retain their position as top three milk producing states. GCMMF, country’s largest milk cooperative, is presently procuring 164 lakh kilogram milk per day breaking its own record of last year when it had procured 140 lakh kilogram per day milk at its peak. “We are now operating on our maximum capacity and expect this peak procurement to continue till January end,” GCMMF’s managing director R S Sodhi told TOI, adding that such was the influx of milk in Gujarat this year that the district dairy unions of GCMMF had to hire seven milk processing and packaging stations to meet the rise in milk production. Of the 164 lakh kilogram milk per day that GCMMF-affiliated dairies are procuring at present, 143 lakh kilogram milk is being collected from 17 districts of Gujarat per day while the remaining 21 lakh kilogram milk is collected from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The Banaskanthabased Banas Dairy, GCMMF’s member union in north Gujarat, has reached a record milk procurement of 35 lakh kilogram per day—making it the largest dairy in the country in terms of milk collection. The water-starved Saurashtra in particular has witnessed tremendous growth in terms of milk procurement. It has witnessed a 25 per cent rise in milk procurement from 14.5 lakh kilogram per day last year peak to 18.4 lakh kilogram per day this year. The record milk production in Gujarat is being attributed to the high price of milk that is being paid by the milk cooperatives to farmers. “Cooperatives in Gujarat are paying Rs 455 per kg fat on an average to the farmers, which come to around Rs 32 per litre of average buffalo milk. In addition to this, farmers are also paid annual bonus of Rs 2 per litre as price difference after settling annual accounts. High price has not only ensured continuation of milk production but is also attracting investment in the dairy by farmers,” said Sodhi.