An Indian dairy company, Universal Dairy Products, has purchased the National Dairy Board plant in Uganda.
A report in India's Financial Express newspaper says the acquisition is part of Universal Dairy's plan to expand its presence in the overseas market. The company recently set up a dairy plant in Mauritius.
MS Parikh, Chief Executive Officer of Universal Dairy Products, says that in Uganda his organization will look at integrated operations for the production of skimmed milk powder, flavored milk, juices, packaged water and the Cream Bell brand of ice cream. Parikh did not however disclose the financial details of the acquisition.
Current capacity at the Uganda plant in Kampala is 1.5 million liters of milk per day and the company would be investing additional money to double capacity there.
Universal Dairy Products plans to use Uganda as a base to cater to the East African markets and projects that operations on the project are likely to commence in a year's time.
Universal Dairy, a joint venture between C K Jaipuria and Ravi Jaipuria group, owns the Cream Bell ice cream brand in India.
