Rupinder Singh Sodhi’s journey – The Hindu BusinessLine

From a humble income officer at Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Restricted (GCMMF) to a board seat at a global dairy forum, Rupinder Singh Sodhi’s journey has parallelly traversed the increase of Amul — India’s homegrown big that is among the world’s major ten dairy brand names.

On Entire world Milk Working day on June 1, 2021 at the Basic Assembly of IDF — an international non-governmental, non-financial gain association of global dairy stakeholders, the Amul boss was unanimously elected to the Board.

Sodhi’s appointment is sizeable for India — the world’s greatest milk producer — as it assures a voice in policy advocacy, arranging and execution at a global degree. This arrives at a critical juncture when the global dairy sector is creating efforts to realize the United Nations Sustainable Development Objective of eradicating starvation by 2030.

“India’s cooperative tactic constitutes an critical system by which thousands and thousands of dairy farmers are being empowered to have a degree-taking part in field in the market and get a truthful share of the benefit of milk,” Sodhi claimed after his appointment.

The down-to-earth dairyman hailing from village Ratta Khera in Punjab, who loves his early morning walks and is a foodie, graduated in Agriculture Engineering from CTAE, Udaipur and was component of the initially batch of Institute of Rural Administration — Anand (IRMA). Quickly after his article graduation in Rural Administration, Sodhi joined Amul in 1982 as a income officer, underneath the chairmanship of Verghese Kurien.

Brimming with power and ideas for new items and promoting strategies, Sodhi’s actions of guaranteeing sustainable livelihood for thousands and thousands of dairy farmers helps make him a appropriate protégé of late Kurien — the Milkman of India — who revolutionised India’s dairy sector.

Below Sodhi’s management, GCMMF’s income turnover elevated by nearly five moments, from ₹8,005 crore in 2009-10 to ₹39,238 crore for the duration of 2020-21. Its solution portfolio has also grown exponentially.

For about 3.six million farmers of Amul, Sodhi has also ensured improved price realisation from liquid milk procurement. Amul elevated milk procurement prices by 140 for each cent in the previous 10 a long time, from Rs 337 for each kg-extra fat in 2009-10 to Rs 810 for each kg-extra fat in 2020-21. This, in convert, encouraged the farmers to generate more milk.

For Sodhi who thinks dairying is the progress engine of the farm sector, the effort and hard work all together is to make milk India’s major money cow.

Rutam Vora