Gujaratstartups, VADODARA/ANAND: After bringing milk, butter and lately even bread on your morning table, Amul is now trying its hands in edible oil business. The Kheda District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited (KDCMPUL), known as Amul Dairy, is in talks with the Anand Regional Co-operative Oilseeds Growers' Union Limited (ARCOGUL) to bring the ailing co-operative in its fold.

Nearly four decades old, ARCOGUL, which is popular for its edible oil brands Anand and Kiran across Gujarat is the only oilseeds growers' co-operative, which is still surviving in the country even as all other oilseeds growers' unions have witnessed a slow death. While ARCOGUL's general body has resolved that the co-operative be merged with a bigger co-operative like Amul, Amul Dairy itself has appointed a chief executive officer (CEO) to handle edible oil business.

"Since a month now, we have started procuring edible oil from ARCOGUL, which is being sold through our existing network of around 1,000 village level co-operative milk societies. While this will help us learn the nitty-gritty of oil business, which is very different from milk, we have also appointed a CEO to get more focused approach. If we get a grip of the edible oil market, we will be explore it. At the same time, it will help ARCOGUL's revival," Amul Dairy's managing director Rahul Kumar told TOI on Monday.

Hiren Bhatt, who had earlier enjoyed 11 years stint as general manager (sales and marketing) of a mineral water brand, has joined Amul Dairy as CEO of edible oil business.

Started as a small co-operative in Chikodra village on the outskirts of milk city Anand in 1969 to help cottonseed growers of the region, ARCOGUL with 130 societies having membership of 25,000 farmers spread in 739 villages has turnover base is of around Rs 120 crore. The ailing co-operative, however, has a debt of around Rs 28 crore, including Rs 13 crore (excluding interest), which it has to pay to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

"Thanks to detrimental policies adopted by various agencies, including the government, most oilseeds unions have closed down. We are the only co-operative which are still in the business. The proposed merger for which our board has agreed upon can both settle our dues and help us survive in this difficult times," ARCOGUL's chairman Ramesh Patel, who in the past has also served as chairman of Amul Dairy for 12 years, told TOI. "We will, however, require approvals from the state government to merge our co-operative with Amul." The regional oilseeds co-operative that covers seven districts of Anand, Kheda, Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara, Narmada and Bharuch has a refinery with 100 tonnes per day processing capacity at Chikodra.

Source: Times Of India