The large Gujarati and South Asian community settled on the US East Coast will soon be able to savour ‘The Taste of India.’ Amul is gearing up to start a dairy plant in Waterloo village in upstate New York, about 550 km from New Jersey.

The Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited, better known as Amul Dairy, has signed a tripartite agreement to start the plant that will initially manufacture paneer and ghee. Amul will utilize an existing dairy plant owned by New Jersey-based NRI Piyush Patel for manufacturing.

“This plant is strategically located. It is close to supply centres from where we can procure raw material and it is also near New Jersey, which has a huge Indian population,” Amul Dairy managing director Rahul Kumar said, adding there is huge demand for Amul products in Indian restaurants in the US.

Amul will initially manufacture three tonnes of paneer and five tonnes of ghee per day for which another plant is being exported from India.

“New York is a milk surplus state and with this arrangement we will be able to produce and supply Amul products in the US as well as Canada, and export it to Europe,” Patel, owner of Summit Milk Products, told TOI. “We have acquired all the necessary licences, including US FDA approval, and are now working on the engineering aspects before Amul packets are manufactured.”

“The agreement between Amul, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) and the US-based dairy plant has been approved by our board,” said R S Sodhi, managing director of GCMMF, which manages the Amul brand.