Nestlé to upgrade milk processing facility in India

Nestlé India, a subsidiary of Swiss food company Nestlé, plans to upgrade its existing milk processing facility at Moga, Punjab with an investment of Rs2.5bn ($45.4m).

The commitment to upgrade the facility was made by Nestlé India chairman and managing director Antonio Helio Waszyk at a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

To date, the company has already invested Rs2.5bn ($45.4m) in the Moga plant and the latest investment will be used take up technological enhancements, expansion and modernisation of the facility over the next two years.

The Moga facility, which was established in 1961, has a workforce of 25,000.

In addition, Parkash Singh Badal has proposed plans to establish a composite dairy centre in the state in collaboration with Nestlé.

The composite dairy centre will feature a veterinary hospital, model dairy farm, a breeding centre and a training facility for dairy entrepreneurs.

Nestlé is also planning to upgrade three to four existing private dairy farms, which would help young dairy entrepreneurs to take up dairy as an allied farming, in order to double milk production in the state.

Nestlé has significant operations in the state of Punjab – it purchases raw material worth Rs6.5bn ($118.1m) to Rs7bn ($127.2m) from Punjab annually and procures milk from more than 100,000 dairy farmers across the state.

Nestlé India, which first set up its production plant in Moga, Punjab, operates seven manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, Goa, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

It is currently involved in four segments – milk and nutrition, foods, coffee and beverages and confectionery – and reported net profit of Rs2.79bn ($) and net sales of Rs22.48bn ($) for the quarter ended 31 March 2013.

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Image: The new project involves technological enhancements, expansion and modernisation of the facility in Punjab over the next two years. Photo courtesy of Nestlé.