Cargill to start its animal feed plant in Punjab in September

Vijay C Roy

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 28

Agro processing major, Cargill India is likely to inaugurate its state-of-the-art animal feed plant at Bathinda in September this year. The greenfield plant, being set up with an investment of Rs 70 crore, would produce around 1,20,000 MT of feed annually and cater to the growing demand for quality feed for dairy farmers of Punjab and neighbouring states.

The foundation stone of the plant was laid in 2014. Sources in the Industry Department said, “Initially, they faced some difficulties in importing some machinery, which has been resolved now. It is expected that the plant will be operational by September this year.”

Cargill has been running its units in over 37 countries across the globe and this will be the company’s first feed plant in Punjab. 

In 2013, during a meeting with Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, the Cargill management evinced interest to come with a high quality, cattle feed-processing unit, marketing unit for maize besides investing in milk sector with increasing production, quality and export.

Sources in the Punjab government added that once the plant is operational, it will encourage the dairy farmers across the state and neighbouring states like Rajasthan by making easy availability of dairy feeds to the animals. This initiative will also equip local farmers with latest knowhow and help in implementing a reliable supply chain for dairy processing.