Kolkata, July 19, 2026

The Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, today formalised the Bhoomi Puja ceremony for Amul's new integrated dairy complex in Sankrail Food Park, Howrah, to become the world's largest curd and cultured dairy plant, at the New Town Convention Centre, New Town, Kolkata. 
The Bhoomi Puja was formalised in presence of the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Shri Suvendu Adhikari, Finance Minister, Shri Swapan Dasgupta, Minister for Enterprises and Industrial Reconstruction, Shri Tapas Ray, the State Cooperative Minister, Shri Ashok Kirtania, the State Health Minister, Dr Saradwat Mukherjee and other dignitaries, including the Chief Secretary of West Bengal Shri Manoj Kumar Agarwal.
The Union Home Minister, Shri Amit Shah today, said, after the formation of new Government in West Bengal under the leadership of Shri Suvendu Adhikari, it is a good privilege to treat him with sweets in the form of doing Bhoomi Puja for the world's largest curd manufacturing unit by Amul at Sankrail Food Park, Howrah. He recalled the dedication, wisdom and devotion of the Bengal’s venerable freedom fighters, litterateurs and spiritual leaders and paid glowing tributes to their contribution to Indian freedom struggle. he Mentioned the names of Rishi Aurobindo, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Shri Ramkrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Netaji subhas Chandra Bose and the like.
Shri Shah said, he had earlier requested the State Chief Minister that if two plots of 15 acres each were provided to Amul, the entire system for milk production, processing and marketing for eastern India could be operated from West Bengal. He also mentioned, while addressing the audience that the proposal was earlier rejected on the ground that Gujarat would not be allowed to enter West Bengal, even though the project was not for Gujarat but for the welfare of West Bengal’s livestock rearers and milk producers.
Shri Shah added at his request, Chief Minister Shri Suvendu Adhikari decided to provide 30 acres of land free of cost to the Amul Federation. This decision has paved the way for nearly 100 major investments to come to West Bengal. It will also help secure the highest possible price for the milk supplied by around 2.5 lakh livestock rearers.
The plant is to be established at the Sankrail Food Park, Howrah, with a total investment of ₹700 crore. The integrated dairy complex will have an overall processing capacity of 30 lakh litres per day, making it one of the largest dairy facilities in the country. The project includes 10 lakh litres per day pouch milk packing capacity, the world’s largest cultured dairy products plant with 1,000 MT per day dahi production capacity, 2 lakh litres per day UHT milk plant, 1 lakh litres per day ice cream, 20 MT per day paneer, 10 MT per day ghee, 10 MT per day sweets plant, and a flavored milk facility producing 2.5 lakh packs per day. 
Shri Shah said, with the objective of bringing prosperity to Bengal’s farmers through the cooperative movement, he had written a letter to Chief Minister Shri Suvendu Adhikari. He himself was surprised by the Chief Minister’s speed of execution. His email was received in the evening, and by 9 p.m. the same day, the West Bengal Government had appointed a Liaison Officer and responded that the officer would coordinate with the Ministry of Cooperation.
According to Shri Shah, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has entrusted the Ministry of Cooperation with more than 70 schemes related to farmers’ welfare. Owing to the effective coordination mechanism created by Chief Minister Shri Suvendu Adhikari, the benefits of all these schemes will reach the farmers of West Bengal within the next six months.
Amul commenced milk procurement operations in West Bengal in 2004 and has since built one of the State’s largest organised dairy networks. Today, more than 1,25,000 dairy farmers, including nearly 30,000 women dairy farmers, are associated with Amul through 880 Village Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCSs) and 107 Bulk Milk Cooling Site (BMCs) spread across key districts such as Purba Bardhaman, Nadia, Murshidabad, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling, reinforcing the cooperative’s commitment to ensuring stable and transparent incomes for rural producers. 
This initiative reflects Amul’s continued commitment to extending the strength of the cooperative model across the country, in line with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Sahakar Se Samriddhi’ (Prosperity through Cooperation). It also reinforces the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 through Honorable Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah’s initiative to empower farmers through cooperation, strengthening rural prosperity and advancing India’s cooperative movement. As part of its long-term growth strategy, Amul aims to increase milk procurement in West Bengal from the current 9 lakh litres per day to 20 lakh litres per day over the next few years, creating significantly larger market opportunities for dairy farmers across the state.

*********

SSS/Kol/19.7.26.....

(रिलीज़ आईडी: 2286416) आगंतुक पटल : 32