People Pour Milk into the Bay of Bengal as a Gesture of Respect to the Victims of the 2004 Tsunami During the Ninth Anniversary of the Disaster, at Marina Beach in Chennai
People pour milk into the Bay of Bengal as a gesture of respect to the victims of the 2004 tsunami during the ninth anniversary of the disaster, at Marina beach in the southern Indian city of Chennai (Credit: Reuters) REUTERS

People pour milk into the Bay of Bengal as a gesture of respect to the victims of the 2004 tsunami during the ninth anniversary of the disaster, at Marina beach in the southern Indian city of Chennai (Credit: Reuters)

Americans and Canadians will soon have liquid Indian milk at their breakfast tables.

Amul, the brand which represents Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), is an Indian dairy cooperative which has revolutionised the way liquid milk is produced and distributed in India and abroad.

Three million milk producers from the Indian state of Gujarat own GCMMF which has revealed plans to distribute liquid milk in the United States in 2014. Thereafter, it plans to target Canada along with other European countries in future. Amul prompted the White Revolution in India, which eventually made the country the largest producer of milk in the world.

GCMMF Managing Director R S Sodhi feels that the process, however, will take some time, Business Standard reports. He believes that exporting liquid milk to European countries may take some time even though the company may not take much time to export it to Canada.

Amul, which is also a world leader in producing milk products, is soon to begin manufacturing clarified butter (ghee) and cottage cheese (paneer) at a New Jersey plant starting from February 2014. Amul has joined hands with a local plant in order to manufacture milk products in the city. It has also revealed plans that it may buy milk from local farmers directly in future.

Amul will need about 50,000 l of milk every day to fulfil the local requirements. The plan is to produce 5 tonnes of ghee and 2 tonnes of paneer every day during the initial phase. It plans to produce additional milk products such as shreekhand (a type of Indian dessert), yogurt and lassi (curd-based drink). The GCMMF is going to provide infrastructure and technical support to the local plant in order to manufacture milk products, Mr Sodhi informs Business Line.

Presently, the GCMMF exports dairy products worth about Rs 100 crore every year to Europe, West Asia and the United States. Around RS 35 crore of it goes to the U.S. only. The co-operative expects a turn-over of around Rs 18,000 crore in 2013-2014, which is 30 per cent greater than the previous year.