The West Assam Milk Producers’ Co-operative Union Ltd. (WAMUL) is targeting a turnover of Rs 450 crore in the coming fiscal year, said Sameer Kumar Parida, Managing Director of WAMUL, who shared insights into the dairy cooperative’s rapid growth trajectory, technology adoption and plans during an interview with Business North East (BNE).
“In 2023–24, our turnover stood at Rs 269 crore, and this year it has increased to Rs 320 crore. We have sold around 1.3 lakh litres of liquid milk and related products, while our average procurement stood at 92,000 litres daily,” stated Parida, highlighting WAMUL's financial leap.
The cooperative has undergone significant expansion to meet growing demand. “Earlier, our processing capacity was just 60,000 litres per day, which has now been scaled up to 1.5 lakh litres. We are already nearing this full capacity,” said Parida.
To fuel further growth, WAMUL is investing in infrastructure with a Rs 104 crore loan from NADB to double its processing capacity from 1.5 lakh litres to 3 lakh litres per day.
“At the grassroots, we have installed automatic milk collection units at the Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCS), which measure fat, SNF, and quantity. Data is received in real-time, and payments are made every 10 days based on quality,” stated Parida when asked about the role of automation and digital systems in maintaining quality and building trust with dairy farmers.
The processing plant itself is fully automated, enhancing transparency and accountability. “These technological upgrades have improved farmer confidence and strengthened our procurement base,” noted Parida.
WAMUL, widely recognised as Purabi Dairy, has achieved a significant milestone with its state-of-the-art milk processing plant at Panjabari, Guwahati, receiving the prestigious ISO 22000 certification for food safety management systems. Simultaneously, its cattle-feed plant at Changsari received the ISO 9001 certification, signifying excellence in quality management systems.
WAMUL is also working on implementing the SCADA system (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) to monitor and control operations digitally. “Our upcoming plant will also be a completely automated facility,” Parida confirmed.
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“We monitor quality at every level — from the animal stage to the DCS and the Bulk Milk Coolers (BMCs). We run regular vaccination drives, address animal health issues like mastitis, and conduct quality checks at multiple points,” stated Parida, who further shared that WAMUL follows a “cow to consumer” approach when asked about how they manage to maintain milk quality, especially with an expanding farmer network.
Parida revealed that WAMUL has also equipped DCSs with adulteration kits and deployed advanced testing machines like MilkoScan to detect impurities, including added water or contaminants.
"We are not just aiming for Assam, but also exploring markets in other parts of Northeast Asia,” said the Managing Director of WAMUL.
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