41st Annual General Body Meeting held on 14th May, 2015

41st Annual General Body Meeting held on 14th May, 2015

Gentlemen,

With immense pride, I introduce myself as a dairy farmer from India. Indeed, my heart swells with happiness and joy when I behold the tremendous contribution of 150 million Indian milk producers towards nation-building, during the last six decades. Through our dedication, ingenuity, commitment, sacrifice and sheer hard work, we have ensured food-security for our country in one of the most critical dimensions – milk and dairy products. Through the spirit of cooperation, we have transformed a nation which, till 1970s, was struggling with severe milk scarcity and heavy dependence on import of dairy commodities, into the largest milk producing county in the entire world. In the process, we have secured self-sufficiency for India in dairy sector and propelled our nation towards a position of eminence on the global dairy map. Just sixty years ago, our citizens in urban India had to suffer due to inadequate availability of milk as well as hygiene and quality issues related to dairy products. However, dairy cooperative movement initiated by millions of small and marginal dairy farmers across rural India, through awe-inspiring value-chain innovations, have not only organized the Indian dairy industry but have also ensured wide-spread availability of high-quality, branded, packaged milk and dairy products to consumers across the country. Indian dairy industry has gained global recognition and world-wide respect, thanks to the wisdom and dedication of our farmers. This remarkable success of Indian dairy industry can be largely attributed to dedicated, visionary, selfless leadership of Indian dairy farmers, combined with high commitment and competence of professionals working with dairy cooperatives. To commemorate the achievements of our dairy farmers and to honor the legacy of the father of White Revolution, Dr. Verghese Kurien, the entire dairy community of India has decided to designate 26th November; the birth anniversary of Dr. Kurien; as National Milk Day. On 26th November 2014, National Milk Day was celebrated for the first time, with several events organized across the entire country by various dairy cooperatives and state governments, with the objective of highlighting achievement of dairy cooperative sector and its contribution to nation-building.

Due to the remarkable efforts of Indian dairy farmers, per-capita milk availability of India which was only 110 gm per day till 1970s, has now exceeded 315 gm per day, despite significant increase in population of the country during the same period. Thanks partly to better nutrition from higher per capita milk availability; our nation has seen remarkable improvement in various health-related social indicators, since independence. Prevalence of malnutrition among children in our country has also fallen sharply in recent decades.

Today, milk is the largest agricultural crop in India with market value exceeding Rs 4 lakh crore (US $ 65 billion) per annum and the milk group contributes the highest to the total output of our agricultural sector, surpassing the output value of wheat, rice and oilseeds. Milk directly affects livelihood of more than 150 million Indian farmers; a vast majority of whom are small and marginal farmers. Further, most of the dairy business in organized sector is in the hands of cooperatives, which are owned by farmers themselves. In fact dairy cooperatives have triggered a socio-economic revolution in rural India by generating gainful employment for the most vulnerable sections of our rural population; especially rural women and landless labourers. Thanks largely to dairy cooperative movement led by Amul, our rural women have gained some measure of economic independence. The realization obtained by sale of milk is the medium through which farmers meet their expenses, earn livelihood and most importantly, stay in the business of milk.

Our dairy farmers are the backbone of our nation. Thankfully, successive governments, both at the centre and also in various states have in their wisdom, ensured a pragmatic policy environment which allowed the domestic dairy industry to flourish. This in turn, has benefitted farmers in rural India, as well as consumers in urban India. Milk production in our country is growing at a healthy rate of 4.5% per annum and is expected to touch 200 Million MTs per annum by 2020. India has tremendous potential for increasing production of milk as the current yield of milch animals is still very low, about 3 litres per animal per day, as compared to the developed world where the yield is around 30 litres per animal per day. We are actively working on providing information and training to farmers on better feeding practices such as silage feeding, use of mineral mixture, urea straw treatment, chaff cutting etc, in order to improve milk productivity.

Several programs such as National Dairy Plan (NDP) of Government of India implemented through NDDB, with outlay of Rs 18000 crore (USD 2.9 billion), are currently being implemented in our country, with the objective of improving productivity of milch animals. This will ensure that growth in milk production is in sync with expected growth in demand for branded, packaged dairy products in this country.

India is not only the largest milk and dairy products consuming country in the entire world, but we are also among the fastest growing dairy markets across the globe. Nations such as New Zealand, Australia and EU which have sizable export surpluses in dairy sector are trying every means at their disposal to gain access to Indian dairy market on highly favourable terms. Their latest strategy is to demand inclusion of dairy products under bilateral FTA (Free Trade Agreement) negotiations, currently underway with these countries. Faced with the prospect of mounting inventory of dairy commodities on one hand and stagnating demand in their own home markets, these countries intend to use India as a dumping ground for their export surpluses. If they succeed in their objective, then domestic dairy industry of India will be crippled forever. This in turn will have a devastating impact on our rural economy, adversely impacting livelihood of 150 million small and marginal farmers. If EU, Australia, New Zealand and other dairy export surplus countries gain access to Indian market at concessional or even zero import duty, India stands to lose its self-sufficiency in dairy sector, severely compromising the food-security of our nation in coming decades.

The pragmatic and responsible policy environment of last sixty years has not only made India, the largest milk producing nation but also the only country in the world, where dairy cooperatives ensure that 80% of consumer’s rupee flows back to the farmers. In most of the developed countries, only 35% to 38% of consumer’s dollar ultimately flows back to the dairy farmers.

The year 2014 witnessed continuous growth in milk production, in the major milk exporting countries. On the other hand, import demand from China has actually declined in the same year. Trade sanctions by Russia have also led to accumulation of dairy commodities inventory in EU. Due to softening in import demand for dairy products and higher production in major exporting countries, there has been a major meltdown in global prices of dairy commodities. Farm-gate prices of milk continue to fall in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and EU nations, which are heavily dependent on dairy exports. These countries are lobbying hard for access to Indian dairy market through bilateral Free Trade Agreement negotiations. On the other hand, India’s access to the markets of developed countries is being denied by several non-Tariff Barriers like FMD, Brucellosis, Residue monitoring, Aflatoxin etc.

In Australia, there are just 6300 dairy farms, supporting similar number of people engaged in dairy farming. Similarly, in New Zealand, there are only 12000 dairy farms supporting similar number of people engaged in dairy farming. On the other hand, in India, there are 150 million small and marginal dairy farmers, dependent on dairying for their livelihood. Due to limited domestic market, countries such as Australia and New Zealand have to export most of their dairy production and are constantly looking out for new markets. This is the reason why these countries are deeply interested in free access to Indian dairy markets.

It may be pertinent to note that EU does not allow import of Indian dairy products as they do not approve any Indian dairy plant for export to EU, under their so called extremely strict Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) standards. These are actually non-tariff barriers imposed by them, which India has never been able to break. It may be noted that whole of Europe does not permit import of any of dairy products from India under one or other non-tariff barrier even if India is willing to pay import duties. Since their own domestic markets within EU are stagnant, they are actually trying to protect their markets through different tactics.

EU is providing very high subsidy on exports of dairy products to their milk producers which results into lower prices of milk powder and fat based products such as Ghee and butter. They can dump such subsidized products at low prices if the market access is granted to EU at concessional or zero import duty. Unfortunately, under FTA, India cannot negotiate on these subsidies but we must keep this factor in mind during FTA negotiations. Major dairy exporting countries are actually anticipating huge market opportunity in India once the comprehensive free trade agreement is ratified and hence are looking forward for every way to utilize marketing opportunity in India. We need to be conscious of the fact that our own national interest should not be hampered. Elimination of milk quotas in EU from 1st April 2015 will definitely trigger further growth in milk production within Europe. This will not only depress farm-gate prices in EU but also create mountains of exportable surplus inventories of dairy commodities. This is one of the primary reasons why EU has been insistent on free access to Indian dairy markets under FTA negotiations.

EU is also demanding GI protection of certain variety of Cheeses which are of EU origin. Many of these cheese variants have been manufactured in India since several years and granting GI protection now, will adversely impact both our dairy farmers as well as Indian consumers. It is pertinent to note that in entire Europe, one can find ethnic Indian products such as paneer and lassi, which have been manufactured in dairy plants within EU. However, EU is not willing to grant GI protection to India for these ethnic Indian dairy products.

We request our policy makers to keep in mind the fate that China’s domestic dairy industry suffered after entering into FTA with New Zealand on dairy products. China’s milk production was growing at a very healthy rate of 25.5% till 2008, but soon after China signed FTA with NZ, China’s import dependency increased suddenly and has resulted into stagnation in local milk production. Thus, FTA only helped in killing domestic industry within China and increased outflow of foreign exchange towards huge import of dairy products. It would also be useful for us to learn from Canada, a country which has pro-actively ensured protection for its own domestic industry, while negotiating FTA’s with other nations.

India should also learn from its experience in liberalizing edible oil imports post WTO implementation in 1996-97. India, as the largest producer of oilseeds in the world, was mostly self-sufficient in 1990s. India imported about 500,000 MT of edible oils in 1990-91 which was about 9% of the total requirement. Currently, India imports more than 12,000,000 MT of edible oils valued at Rs 60,000 crore (USD 10 billion) which is 65% of our total requirement. So, the entire industry has moved from 91% self-sufficiency to 65% import dependence in just two decades. We cannot let our dairy industry suffer the same fate.

I urge our policy-makers to recall the pertinent lessons learnt during our own Operation-Flood, which created ‘White Revolution’ in India and made our country, the highest milk producing nation of the world. In the 1960's, the situation was quite similar since even then, Europe was saddled with mountain of surplus milk powder & butter stocks. In order to protect their own market, European countries were trying to dump these stocks into market of some developing country, in guise of free aid. Instead of allowing free import of subsidized dairy commodities, Government of India on advice of Dr. Verghese Kurien, decided to monetize this aid and use generated funds to develop infrastructure for Indian dairy industry.

Dairy markets in some of our neighboring SAARC countries are dominated by MNCs from EU or Oceania. Therefore, we should also ensure that the developed nations of EU and Australia should not use these SAARC nations as bouncing ground for dumping their dairy commodities in India. Rules of origin must be followed while negotiating flow of goods from one country to the other. Relevant measure would be to check the value of the content each country has contributed towards making the final product.

Granting concessions or free market access to major dairy exporting countries under FTA negotiations will be contradictory to the ‘Make in India’ strategy of our Honorable Prime Minister. Our policy makers should never allow FTA for products or raw material which is abundantly available in India. India has the potential to be the dairy to the world. On the other hand, modern machinery and state-of-the-art technology which is not available in India and are necessary for the development of domestic dairy industry should actually be brought under the purview of FTA and we can reduce duty on their import from developed countries. This is necessary for manufacturing technologically superior dairy products for Indian consumers and truly achieves the goal of 'Make in India'.

We strongly urge the Government of India to take all necessary steps to protect the interests of 150 million rural milk producers, who are mainly small and marginal farmers and whose livelihood depends on dairy industry. We request our policy makers to ensure that dairy products are completely kept out of the ambit of FTAs with major dairy exporting nations. No duty concessions and no GI protection on dairy products should be given to countries such as Australia, New Zealand and EU. These steps will go a long way towards ensuring that our nation's self sufficiency in dairy sector is maintained in future and our food-security is safeguarded with respect to milk and dairy products.

I now present to you, our Federation's Annual Report and the Audited Accounts for the year 2014-2015.

REVIEW OF OPERATIONS
MILK PROCUREMENT

Total milk procurement by our member unions during the year 2014-15 averaged 152.90 lakh kilograms (15.29 million kg) per day, representing growth of 12.7 per cent over 135.73 lakh kilograms (13.57 million kg) per day achieved during 2013-14. The highest procurement was recorded during February 2015 at 184.38 lakh kilograms (18.44 million kg) per day.

During the last five years, our milk procurement has witnessed phenomenal increase of 65%. This enormous growth in milk procurement was a result of high milk procurement price paid to our farmer-members which has increased by 75 per cent during last five years. High remunerative milk procurement price to farmers has helped us to win back farmer’s interest in milk production. Better returns from dairying have obviously motivated farmers to enhance their investments in increasing milk production. Our initiative in promoting the concept of commercial, scientific, cooperative dairy farming is also helping to attract next generation of dairy farmers to remain in the business.

SALES

During the last five years, sales of our Federation have registered remarkable growth of 159%, which implies an impressive cumulative average growth rate (CAGR) of 21%. In line with this notable performance, this year, our Federation has registered an impressive growth of 14.3%, to reach Rs.20733 crores (Rs.207.33 billion). Last year, our turnover was Rs. 18143 crores (Rs. 181.43 billion). We took giant leaps ahead in our journey of product innovation since as many as 26 new products from Amul’s portfolio, were launched last year. We strongly believe that product innovation is essential in order to cater to the emerging needs of our society and also to create a vibrant portfolio for the future.

I am also pleased to note that our Federation has done remarkably well in many of the value added consumer products. Amul long-life UHT Milk has shown an impressive value growth of 34%. Launch of Amul Slim’n’Trim UHT milk has helped to further augment growth in this category, by reaching out to health conscious consumers. Sales of Amul Cream in long-life UHT packaging also increased by 25% in value terms. Introduction of Amul Whipping Cream will enable further growth acceleration in cream category. Leveraging on the enthusiastic consumer response to Amul beverages range in PET bottles, our entire value-added milk beverages range registered quantum value growth of 33%.

The single largest food brand of India, Amul fresh milk in pouches once again registered high growth of 28%. The highly successful launch of Amul Milk in Hyderabad was a major step forward for us, as it marked our entry into fresh milk products markets of South India. In other dairy product categories, we already had a dominant presence across South India and now with the launch in Hyderabad, Amul fresh milk and other fresh milk products have also entered the southern markets. Amul fresh milk in pouches has also been recently launched in Punjab, which is another major milestone for our organization.

Amul Cheese range retained its dominant share of Indian cheese market with impressive value growth on 28%. Launch of several exciting and innovative flavors of Amul Cheese Spread has helped to expand the consumer base in this category. In fact, Amul Cheese has seen consistent and highly impressive growth over the last several years. In sweetened condensed milk category, our brand Amul Mithai Mate attained high growth of 29% in consumer segment. Amul ice-cream maintained its leadership position among ice-cream brands of India, posting growth of 27% over last year. This year was the year of high-visibility generation for Amul ice-cream selling shops. Our major launch in ice-cream category was 'Amul EPIC', the premium ice-cream bar as well as ‘Amul Creme Rich’, a rich and creamy, premium ice-cream. Amul Greek frozen yoghurt was also introduced, which is a new concept for the Indian consumers.

During the summer months last year, production of some of our products was impacted due to lower milk availability, however, during the winter season we managed to achieve high growth in milk procurement, which continues even today. We anticipate even further growth in milk procurement and high production of all dairy products in our portfolio, in foreseeable future.

DISTRIBUTION NETWORK

At Federation, we have a unique and robust distribution model whereby we meet the specific distribution requirements of various categories of products though four distinct distribution highways - ambient, chilled, frozen and fresh. We have continued our expansion policy by opening several new branches, thereby ensuring that we are closer to the markets. We have opened new branches at Jodhpur, Mangalore and Gwalior in the year 2014-15. We now have 56 branches, managing our distribution across India. We have also strengthened our rural distribution reach with 170 Super-stockists covering 3200 interior markets. We have also successfully implemented the Distributor Management System at all major distributor locations, across India. With this system in place we envisage much better control on our distribution network. We have continued with our Amul Yatra programme through which we intend to enhance awareness among our business associates regarding cooperative institutions, their philosophy and infrastructure.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION

The single biggest achievement of Federation in terms of application of information technology luring 2014-15 was successful implementation of Distributor Management System (DMS) across India. This will enable our organization to exercise much better control over our supply-chain and positively transform the sales management processes in Federation. This application is also supported with sales force automation system which has revolutionized front-line selling process in the organization.

SAP-ERP implemented in Federation and various Member Unions has resulted in better supply chain performance. The system has also helped in improving planning and monitoring, across the enterprise. We wish to inform you that our Federation will soon take further steps in the direction of integrating Cow-to-Consumer (C2C) IT value chain with implementation of "Common AMCS Application" for 17,000 Village District Cooperative Societies of Gujarat.

EXPORTS

I am pleased to inform you that our exports in consumer products have registered growth of above 50% during 2014-15. As you are aware, dairy trade in global market has a huge crash in last one year with commodity prices dropping by about 50%, mainly due to excess production, sanctions in countries such as Russia and slowdown in milk powder imports by China. The farm-gate prices also crashed in developed countries, due to the same reason by equal amount.

I am happy to inform you that our Kaira union has set up a manufacturing facility in Waterloo, NY, USA and GCMMF has started marketing of locally produced Amul Products in USA. We will continue to increase our focus in consumer products and will strive to make Brand “Amul” a household name in the Global Market.

COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

During the year, we have provided technical, managerial and marketing support to Porbandar and Botad Milk Union for establishment of dairy cooperative structure in their district. We have also continued to provide support to Milk Unions of Saurashtra and Kutch region, to organize farmers to build and develop cooperatives and increase milk production and procurement. We have also developed a dedicated initiative to improve animal health services, by conducting health camps and veterinary routes in Saurashtra and Kutch region.

Stepping up our efforts in cooperative development

During the last fifteen years, our Member Unions are implementing Internal Consultant Development (ICD) for developing self leadership among member producers and thereby enabling them to manage their dairy business efficiently leading to their overall development and enabling them to implement the total quality management at VDCS and milk producer level.

During the year, Member Unions continued to implement the module on Vision Mission Strategy (VMS) for primary milk producer members & Village Dairy Cooperatives. Specially trained consultants facilitated around 618 Village Dairy Cooperative Societies (VDCS) and have conducted their VMS workshop, prepared their Mission Statements & Business Plans for next five years. Till date, 9,124 VDCS have prepared their mission statement and Business plan under the initiative. During the year, 2,592 VDCS have also reviewed their business plan under annual revisit of VMS and have prepared action plan for next year to propel the momentum gained through VMS.

To take VMS to next level and extend thrust area implementation up to milk producer's level, our Member Unions have initiated VMS for Progressive Milk Producers and conducted 554 programme during the year 2014-15. MU’s consultant facilitates the member milk producers to identify gap between their existing & desired AH practices and action plan is prepared. This activity will be further boosted by VDCS and milk producer’s integrated Dudhutpadak-Mandali Sanklit Vikas Ayojan Karyakram (DIVA) Programme, being developed by ICD core group in which VDCS shall support and facilitate milk producer to achieve the desired result.

In order to strengthen knowledge and skill base of young girls and women of the villages about Animal Husbandry management, 580 women resource person have been trained under "Mahila Pashupalan Talim Karyakram" during the year.

Strategic Productivity Enhancement:

GCMMF and Milk Unions have identified the gaps which are hindering the efforts of improving milk productivity and therefore have envisioned integrated intervention to achieve objective of higher milk productivity and production, titled Strategic Productivity Enhancement Programme.

The concept of this programme is designed with an aim to develop genetically improved animals with high productivity. It initiates with the selection of elite animals, to develop pure bred cows and buffaloes with high genetic potential by adopting Pure Breeding Programme. Accordingly, 16,435 Superior animals having high productivity have been identified under the programme and their better progeny will be obtained by using 100% pure bull semen. In line with our objective, during the year we have received 34,000 imported progeny tested 100% Pure HF semen doses and 4,041 sexed semen doses, for the first time ever in Gujarat. To further develop the genetic potential of these calves we have planned the Calf Rearing Programme. Around 68,562 calves have been registered under calf rearing programme. With a long term vision to reduce infertile animals and convert a non-productive animal into productive asset, we conduct Fertility Improvement Programme (FIP). At present, FIP is successfully being implemented in selected 3350 villages covering 3.16 lakh numbers of animals. To generate a database of animals under animal breeding activities, around 22.07 lakhs animals have been registered in 2319 villages under E-Animal programme. Activities of Strategic PEP and FIP are being monitored through a dedicated system on www.amul.org.in.

Entrepreneurship Development Programme for Dairy Farmers:

We have conducted 22 programmes under Entrepreneurship Development Programme for Dairy Farmers and have trained 1195 milk producers. Such milk producers are trained, through interactive group workshops to better understand farm economics and develop management plans for increasing income and reducing operating costs.

Clean Milk Production:

Under our quality assurance programme for consumers, GCMMF have supported the member unions for strengthening Infrastructure for Quality and Clean Milk Production by implementing various Government of India, Government of Gujarat and NCDC programmes. Our member unions have already installed 4312 BMC and also implemented CMP training programme in these villages. To enhance the level of Cleanliness this year 8695 VDCS celebrated Red Tag Day on "Gandhi Jayanti" - 2nd October and the Unions also awarded VDCS having highest level of cleanliness. Further, Milk Unions are also encouraging members to ensure clean milk production by use of milking machines.

Contributing to sustainable ecological development:

Milk Producer members of Gujarat have been celebrating the nation's Independence Day in a novel manner by planting millions of saplings across Gujarat. The milk producers of Gujarat Dairy Cooperatives are conducting mass tree plantation drive every year on Independence Day for last eight years and have planted more than 518 lakh trees and demonstrated their commitment towards preserving and contributing to improvement of the environment and making Gujarat Green. For the tree plantation activity we received seven consecutive Good Green Governance award from Srishti during 2007 to 2013.

MISSION 2020...

In the year 2007-08, when the annual turnover of Federation was only Rs. 5225 crores (US$ 840 million), it was decided that the long-term goal for our Federation would be to achieve turnover of Rs. 20,800 crores (US$ 3.4 billion) by 2019-20, projecting 12.2% CAGR over twelve year period. Leveraging on several technological and marketing innovations, your Federation has already achieved this target by 2014-15, five years ahead of schedule. Dedication and hard work of our farmers, which resulted in higher availability of milk has been the primary factor in our accelerated growth. As against 12.2% projected growth rate, Federation has actually achieved 21% CAGR growth in last seven years, largely due to higher milk procurement, value-chain innovations, marketing efficacy and expansion of distribution reach. Our mantra of rapid expansion has clearly yielded rich dividends for the organization. Our initiative to extend milk procurement operations as per Amul cooperative model, to seven other states outside Gujarat has resulted in 20% additional quantity of milk being available to our organization. Launch of innovative, value-added new dairy products, expansion of fresh milk and milk products marketing operations to several new markets, as well as expansion of distribution footprint through our vast network of stockists and milk area delivery agents has led to quantum growth in our business. Seamless integration of our entire value-chain through information technology has acted as force-multiplier to our business growth.

In recent years, our Federation has been globally acknowledged as one of the fastest growing dairy organizations. Since India is destined to be the dairy to the world in coming decades, Amul cooperative network definitely has the potential to be the largest dairy organization in the entire world. Since we are the pioneers and market-leaders in the largest, as well as one of the fastest growing dairy markets in the world, we realized that we need to plan our future strategy afresh and set new growth targets.

Based on estimated growth in market demand for Amul products and our future marketing efforts, we anticipate at least 20% CAGR growth in Federation’s business during the next five years, implying that the turnover of our Federation should exceed Rs. 50,000 crores ( US$ 8 Billion) by the year 2019-20. To match this expected growth in demand for our products, our milk procurement should increase at CAGR of at least 12% from 156.17 lakh litres per day in 2014-15 to 270 lakh litres per day in 2019-20. We plan to enhance our milk processing capacity from the current level of 237 lakh litres per day to 380 lakh litres per day in the next five years.

Our massive expansion process is already underway. In 2014, our new milk powder plant started functioning in Palanpur. With capacity of 120 MTs per day, this is our largest milk powder plant, till date. Similarly, our new dairy plant at Rohtak started operations, further augmenting our capacity to serve the markets of Delhi and NCR. Our new Butter plant at Gandhinagar with capacity of 40 MTs per day, also started functioning last year. Another ten new, state-of-the-art dairy plants are in various stages of completion. New dairy plants are being built in Faridabad, Kanpur, Lucknow and Kolkatta. Another new dairy plant in Varanasi is also in pipeline. Our new mega-cheese plant near Palanpur is near completion and will start operating this year. Since we are also doubling cheese manufacturing capacities at our existing plant, the net impact will be three-fold expansion in our cheese capacities. Within Gujarat, new dairy plants will soon be operational at Amreli and Surendranagar. Capacity expansion at Bhavnagar is also underway. A new dairy plant will also start in Kutch. These large-scale mega-expansion projects are part of our Mission 2020 plan.

We are confident that we will succeed in achieving our Mission 2020, with blessing and support from all quarters.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Before closing, I would like to thank all those who have helped to make our Federation’s operations successful.

We are very much thankful to Hon’ble Prime Minister of India and Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat for their constant support and guidance.

We are grateful to the Government of India for immense support received from various departments and specifically from the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development. We convey our special thanks to NCDC for providing valuable support to our village co-operative dairy societies. We are also thankful to the Government of Gujarat for all the help and cooperation, extended to our organization.

National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) had played a role in our growth and development. We are extremely grateful to Shri T Nanda Kumar, Chairman, NDDB and Shri Dilip Rath, Managing Director, NDDB for their continuous support to our organization. National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India had been providing us with invaluable support in coordination with other agencies and organizations. We are very grateful to them.

Institute of Rural Management, Anand, as always, has contributed to the perspective building and professionalization of the management of cooperative sector. We express deep gratitude for its support.

We are indebted to Vidya Dairy for having organized training programs on dairy technology for our employees. We are also grateful to SMC College of Dairy Science, Anand, for strengthening the dairy cooperative sector, by providing technically skilled manpower. We express our sincere thanks to the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand.

Our advertising agencies, bankers, insurers, management consultants, suppliers and transport contractors have been of great help to us in managing our growth and are our partners in success. We acknowledge their contributions and commit ourselves to continue and strengthen this fruitful alliance in all times to come.

The Indian Railways has played a crucial role in the growth of our dairy cooperatives since inception. We thank them for their continuous support.

We depend on the efficiency of our WC&F agents, distributors, retailers and most important of all, the patronage of our consumers, who have come to regard our brands as synonymous with quality and value. While thanking them for their support, we assure them that we shall strive endlessly to delight them.

Our Member Unions are our strength. We thank them for their guidance, support and cooperation without which we would not exist.

Lastly, we thank the officers and staff of our Federation for their continued perseverance, loyalty and unflinching efforts devoted to our cause.

Thank you.

For and on behalf of the Board of Directors

Jethabhai P. Patel

Chairman


Click below for the other speeches: