Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets the Amul brand of milk and dairy products, has received CNN-IBN 'Innovating for a Better Tomorrow' award.
The award has been conferred on GCMMF for its innovative contribution to nation-building and its role in creating a socio-economic revolution in rural India.
The award was instituted by Network 18, CNN-IBN and CNBC TV18 to honour exemplary innovations that transformed the lives of millions of Indians and also left indelible impressions globally.
R S Sodhi, Managing director, GCMMF, who received the award in New Delhi, said it was a recognition of the wisdom and efforts of dairy farmers of Gujarat who created the innovative Amul model, enabling India to become the largest milk producing nation in the world.
Inspired by the visionary foresight of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Amul cooperative model has enabled farmers to control the entire value chain of dairy business, from milk production, processing, manufacturing as well as marketing.
One of the most innovative features of Amul is its vast supply chain network which functions with clock-work precision and handles more than 70 lakh transactions every day, linking 32 lakh farmers with millions of consumers spread across the nation and the world.
The then Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri, had inspired Dr. Verghese Kurien to replicate the Amul model in what came to be known as ‘Operation Flood’, which helped India achieve self-sufficiency in milk and become the largest milk producing nation in the world.