Rajkot: All decks have been cleaned for cooperative milk marketing factories Gujarat (GCMMF) the second largest processing plant in the state that will come near Rajkot.
The district collector here has identified 72 acre land in Bhavnagar Road on the outskirts of the city.
Previously the land package identified by the Rajkot District Authority was rejected by GCMMF because of its high price.
GCMMF, which market products under the Amul brand name, have a milk processing plant in the Gandhinagar district with the capacity to process 50 latric liters of milk per day.
At present, excess milk from 12 regions of the Saurashtra and Kutch regions are sent to the Gandhinagar GCMMF plant.
Dairy cooperatives in the region produce around 45 latric liters of milk every day where 15 lats liters are consumed locally and the strength of 30 lakh liters is transported at a cost of around Rs 30 Lakh per day to Gidhinagar GCMMF plants.
After the second plant in Rajkot is ready, GCMMF will save transportation costs.
According to GCMMF, land parcels for new factories have been identified in Gadhka Bhavnagar Village.
The Rajkot District Assessment Committee earlier this month remains the price of RS 100 Crore for land parcels.
The land belongs to two villages and is classified as a government desert.
The proposal for land transactions with GCMMF has been sent to the state government for formal approval.
Previous 100 acre land was identified near Anandpar for the same plant.
But it was rejected by GCMMF because of land prices around Rs 275 Crore.
GCMMF plans to install a milk processing unit with the capacity to process 30 latric liters of milk per day.
The engine costs are only estimated at RS 300 Crore.
Valamji Humbal, Deputy Chairperson of the GCMMF told Tii, “The price of new land parcels seems reasonable.
We will meet with the main minister in a week with a request to accelerate the approval of the proposal which is passed by the district collectors.
We will also look for discounts on land prices.
“According to Humbal, GCMMF wants to start a construction work at a milk processing plant as soon as it has land.
Dairy products such as chocolate, butter, cheese, ice cream, shrikhand (yogurt) will also be produced at the new Rajkot factory, Humbal said.
Dairy in various districts of Saurashtra and Kutch use milk for local consumption and also process it to make curds, buttermilk and ghee.