Amul utterly butterly unfazed by Sahara's dairy foray

India's largest dairy company Amul India is hardly perturbed by Subrata Roy led Sahara India Pariwar's claims on becoming the biggest dairy producer in India. Infact, Amul has already strategised on how to remain the 'Taste of India', reports CNBC-TV18’s Farah Bookwala.

The dairy major feels there's enough room for new entrants in the Rs 70,000 crore organized diary retailing sector, which is presently growing at 10-12% annually. So despite Sahara Group’s plans to open the world's largest dairy next year in April, Amul is convinced it will remain at the top.

Managing director of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation RS Sodhi says there is enough room is the organised dairy space because only 20-22% of the market is tapped. In terms of competition, he says “Amul has been fighting off competition for the past 25 years, and we've fought the best of competition from not only the Indian brands but also international MNC brands.”

But then again, the company is not taking it lightly. Amul has already stepped on the gas pedal to accelerate growth. Amul, or the GCMMF, will be setting up nine plants over the next four years at a cost of Rs 3,000 crore to increase its milk handling capacity by nearly 25%. Four plants will come up in Gujarat, two in Delhi and one each in Mumbai, Kolkata and Kanpur.

GCMMF is also aggressively expanding its distribution network and retail presence through its Amul ice-cream parlours and kiosks as well as supermarkets and hypermarkets. “We are going to add around 150 super distributors and 1 lakh retail outlets this year,” said Sodhi.

Amul, which has been growing at 23% for the last five years, doubled its revenues in the same period to USD 2.5 billion in 2011-12 and hopes to continue the pace even as competition knocks at its door.

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