India’s Dairy Behemoth, Amul has been leveraging new-age technology to scale the supply chain across its key business verticals and replace manual interventions digitally. Undoubtedly, it has been at the forefront of the digitization of its milk plants and processes. In a new initiative, Amul and SAP have come together to bridge the digital divide existing in the milk city, Anand, in the state of Gujarat, and rolled out a Digital Literacy Program for Rural Bharat.
Amul claims the dairy industry of India is poised to create 1.2 crore new jobs in the next 10 years and these jobs would mean livelihood and food security for a large population in the country. The dairy sector has the potential to generate a large number of new jobs, entrepreneurial opportunities, and sustainable incomes for families and therefore ensure food security
On the technology initiatives front, Amul has connected over 2,000 of its cows with Fitbit connected devices so that they can monitor the health and other parameters of the cows and buffaloes on a real-time basis. Today, Amul is 100% paperless across its plants located in India.
RS Sodhi, Managing Director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, Ltd, (Amul) said, “Over 66 percent of India’s population lives in rural areas. Most of the rural population lives in India and depends on agriculture, animal husbandry and dairying for their livelihood. Over the years, we have observed that various governments have tried their best to give them better access to education, transportation, financial services, and internet connectivity. With an objective of inclusive and sustainable community development, Amul and SAP have joined the project. Under the project, quality digital literacy and skill interventions training are imparted to school-going children and teachers.”
Sodhi also emphasized that Rural India has a lot of potential for emerging technologies and its use case compared to urban India. He sees empowering the rural workforce can remove the digital divide.
Kulmeet Bawa, President, and Managing Director, SAP Indian Subcontinent, said, “Technology can act as a catalyst in shaping India’s journey to an inclusive and sustainable economy. While urban development projects such as smart cities and futuristic mobility are reflective of this potential, true progress of India lies in the development of her villages. Our work with Amul is an expansion of this vision and will provide citizens with the information and tools they need to succeed. As India continues to lead global action on sustainability, collaboration like ours will also provide the critical foundation for an inclusive and resilient future in which no one is left behind.”