State BJP president C R Paatil Wednesday laid foundation stone of the expansion for the expansion of Sumul Dairy’s ice cream manufacturing unit in Kamrej taluka, Surat district, from 50,000 to 1 lakh litres per day, at a cost of Rs 125 crore.
SUMUL Dairy is also setting up an ice cream cone making plant at Navi Pardi village in Kamrej taluka — the first in Gujarat with a daily production of 3 lakh cones.
SUMUL Dairy collects 18 lakh litres of milk daily from dairy farmers in Surat and Tapi districts associated with 1,200 milk societies which have 2.50 lakh members.
Chairman of Sumul Dairy Mansinh Patel said, “We have fulfilled the dream of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to double the income of farmers. In 2013-14, the total income of dairy farmers was around Rs. 3.50 crore and now it has increased to Rs 7.50 crore. The amount gets directly deposited in the bank accounts of dairy farmers in Surat and Tapi.”
“The farmers of Surat district got Rs 2,700 crore, while those from Navsari, Valsad and Bharuch also got crores of rupees. The farmers were paid Rs. 1.03 crore per bigah. A few areas are still left and it will be covered. The farmers of Surat and Navsari are satisfied with the amount they got and even they are ready to give more land. Even the Congress workers are also happy,” Paatil said.
Meanwhile, Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation limited (GCMMF) R S Sodhi said, “In the milk sector, we are top in the world with production of 210 million metric tons and still we are progressing. Sumul Dairy collects 18 lakh litres of milk daily and gives good price to the dairy farmers. The main reason behind success in dairy farming is, it is linked to cooperative societies, which acts as a bridge between dairy farmers and the end customers…”