Tenders have been called for the construction of a brand new dairy for Aavin at Madhavaram at a cost of ₹125 crore. The facility, the fifth for Chennai city, will have a capacity to process 10 lakh litres of milk per day (LLPD).
An official in the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation, which owns the Aavin brand, said that at present the city consumes around 15 LLPD of milk processed at its dairies at Madhavaram, Ambattur, Sholinganallur and Kakalur. “We have been working to add processing capacity so that sales can be increased and both farmers and consumers benefit from it. The Federation can process 40 LLPD of milk, the latest addition will increase the capacity by 10 LLPD,” an official said.
Aavin hopes to commission the dairy by the end of 2023 coming up on a portion of 200 acres of land in Madhavaram. “We have placed tenders simultaneously for the building, which is being constructed at a cost of ₹25 crore, as well as machinery, that is being procured at a cost of ₹70 crore. The dairy unit with pasteuriser, homogeniser and chiller that would process all the four variants of milk would be fully automated. We are looking to have boilers that would run on multiple fuels so that we can reduce running costs,” the official added.
Of the 15 LLPD of milk being sold in Chennai, the existing dairy at Madhavaram supplies 4.5 LLPD, the Ambattur dairy supplies 4.2 LLPD, Sholinganallur 5.5 LLPD, Kakalur 30,000 litres a day, Villupuram 30,000 litres daily and Vellore 20,000 litres daily. The Federation procures around 40 LLPD of milk from farmers who are members of the cooperative societies from across the State.
On the demand for milk, another official said the market was waiting to be tapped. “The city is ever expanding and there are more areas where consumers are willing to buy Aavin milk for its quality and price. More farmers will start coming into the cooperative fold once the processing capacity is increased,” he said.
