Amul expands its solar-powered cold storage to reduce milk spoilage

INDIA – Amul, a giant dairy manufacturer, has doubled down on solar-powered cold storage and refrigerated transport in 2025 to keep its milk, cheese, and butter flowing to every corner of the country.

This move, ramped up in 2025, marks a shift from traditional diesel-dependent systems, aiming to cut costs, reduce emissions, and deepen Amul’s reach in India’s booming dairy market, projected to hit USD 163 billion by 2027.

The solar-powered milk chillers are designed to cool milk from 35°C to 4°C within minutes, halting microbial growth that can ruin quality.

According to WWF-India, Amul has deployed chillers with a capacity of 26,000 litres per day across 160 kW of solar power, with plans to scale to 1,000 kW.

These units, backed by battery systems, operate independently of India’s unreliable rural grids, saving farmers INR 1 per litre by improving milk quality and cutting energy costs.

Jayen Mehta, GCMMF’s Managing Director, stated, “Our focus is on sustainable growth that benefits farmers and consumers alike. With new plants, like an INR 600 crore facility in Kolkata, Amul is poised to dominate India’s dairy future.”

Amul’s fleet of refrigerated vans, upgraded in 2025 with IoT-enabled temperature monitoring, ensures products like cheese and ice cream stay at 0–4°C (or -18°C for frozen goods) across India’s rugged terrain.

Facing fuel costs that have spiked 40% in the past year, Amul is optimizing routes and outsourcing to third-party logistics providers to lower expenses. In Tamil Nadu, where dairy demand is surging, Amul’s transport network has grown 20% since 2023, supporting deliveries to cities like Chennai and Coimbatore.

These vans are critical for maintaining Amul’s reputation for freshness. Real-time data loggers alert drivers to temperature fluctuations, ensuring that your Amul butter stays smooth and your ice cream doesn’t melt, even on a 12-hour journey from a rural plant to a Tier-2 city market.

Additionally, by cutting out middlemen, the company aims to keep prices low while ensuring farmers earn fair wages.

Solar chillers and efficient transport further reduce costs, allowing Amul to maintain affordability despite rising fuel and climate-related expenses.

To help reduce challenges faced in the dairy sector, the company stated that it is collaborating with Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and government schemes to expand chilling facilities and has raining programs aimed at building local expertise.

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