MUMBAI, NOV 27, 2018: In a bid to commemorate the birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien, the Father of the Milk Revolution in India, the management and staff of Bosco Boys Home decided to take the boys to the Amul Virar Dairy for an educational-cum-exposure visit on November 24.
Amul Dairy has set up a state of art facility near Virar, which covers 11 acres of lush green land surrounded by mountains and jungles. The Dairy is set up at a total cost of Rupees 180 crore, processing an installed capacity of 1 million litres milk per day, with a provision to expand up to 2 million litres in the near future.
The main work at this plant is to serve the consumers of Mumbai city and its suburbs with fresh milk and milk products. The purpose of this visit was to show the boys the various techniques used in the production and marketing of milk and to make them aware of the importance of milk in daily diet. The resource person for the tour was Sandeep Shah, a representative from the Amul Virar Dairy.
“The Amul-Virar Dairy is very unique in its design and its concept. The 50,000 litres per hour integrated milk reception, processing, on-line pasteurization, standardization, and homogenization facility is first of its kind in India. Traffic Management System is used for operations such as conveying of crates, robotic crates, filling of milk pouches from high-speed milk packing machines each packing 160 pouches per minute. There are also on-line check weighers on milk packing lines which are controlled through a centralized computer monitoring system,” Shah said while explaining to the boys the production and working of the Diary plant.
“The automatic pick and place system of milk pouch filling in crates used here is not only the first in India but also in the world. The ice cream plant, one of the largest in India, is fully automated to process 2 lac liters ice cream per day.”
Dorando Camara, the warden for the boys, said, “Educational visits are very important for every student as it provides a clear picture of the product. The objective of this visit was to study and understand the production and operation of Amul Dairy. Amul was formed in the year 1946 and today it goes without saying that Amul is one of the leading food/dairy brands in India. Amul is the pride not only of Gujarat but also of the entire country. It was a great opportunity for the students to visit one of the most renowned dairy industries in India and acquire knowledge about the production line.”The boys also visited the Dairy museum, which is located on the same campus. The museum has a photo gallery and auditorium. The photo gallery gave glimpses of the genesis of Amul and its growth in a pictorial form. They were also shown a presentation explaining the achievements of Amul and the workings of the pioneers behind brand Amul.
“It was a wonderful and interactive visit, where we understood the production processes, products, and operation of one of the best examples of cooperative achievement in the developing economy. I am so proud to be part of this great family of Amul: The taste of India,” Sujal Kawada, one of the boys, said.