October 5, 2010

Fonterra may build dairy farm in India

Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd, the world's largest dairy exporter, is in initial talks with Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Ltd (IFFCO) to set up a dairy farm in the nation.

"We are in exploratory talks with IFFCO about potentially establishing a dairy farm operation in India," Kelvin Wickham, managing director of Fonterra's global trade unit, said Monday (Oct 4). "However, it is early days and we do not yet have any formal agreement."

The project may cost as much as INR10 billion (US$225 million) and support as many as 40,000 cattle, said IFFCO Managing Director U.S. Awasthi. It will initially produce one million litres (264,172 gallons) of milk daily.

The farm's cattle will include 3,000 cows imported from Australia and New Zealand and 10,000 local cows that will be added every year for three years, according to reports.

The partners have not applied for any formal clearance for the farm, which will rely on the relaxation of a ban on the import of milk-producing animals for commercial use, sources said.