December 26, 2024, Anand: The Suzuki R&D Center India Pvt Ltd (SRDI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Suzuki Motor Corporation entered into an agreement with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) at NDDB, Anand on December 25, 2024, to expand biogas plants across India. As per the agreement, SRDI will invest in NDDB’s wholly-owned subsidiary, NDDB Mrida Ltd. As a joint venture company of NDDB and SRDI, Mrida is expected to advance the vision of both organisations by providing clean energy in various forms and organic fertilisers that minimise the use of chemical fertilisers through dung-based biogas models.
Dr Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB welcomed and felicitated Mr Toshihiro Suzuki, President, Suzuki Motor Corporation.
Dr Meenesh Shah hailed this as a milestone event and said that a unique partnership has been forged between the dairy and automobile sectors. This will create more value for dairy farmers through the efficient utilisation of dung to produce clean energy and organic fertilisers, while also promoting a circular economy. He further stated that Suzuki’s expertise will immensely assist the dairy sector in achieving long-term sustainability.
Mr T Suzuki applauded the work done by NDDB in the dairy sector and expressed his keen interest in advancing the partnership with NDDB, particularly in the biogas space. He envisions Mrida becoming a dominant player in the biogas sector in India.
Mr Kenichiro Toyofuku, Director, SRDI and Shri S Rajeev, Executive Director, NDDB signed the agreement. Mr Kenichi Ayukawa, Executive Vice President, Suzuki Motor Corporation; Shri Vipul Patel, Chairman, Amul Dairy; Mr Hisashi Takeuchi, Managing Director, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd; Shri Sangram Chaudhary, Managing Director, Banas Dairy; Shri Dhiraj Chaudhary, Managing Director, Dudhsagar Dairy; Shri Mitesh Mehta, Managing Director, Panchmahal Dairy; Shri S Regupathi, Executive Director, NDDB and other senior officials from Suzuki Motor Corporation, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd and NDDB graced the occasion.
In order to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality in India, Suzuki is collaborating with NDDB and dairy cooperatives across the country to establish biogas plants. Earlier, SRDI had partnered with NDDB to setup dung-based compressed biogas plants in Gujarat. Currently, work on four such plants is underway in Banaskantha district with Banas Dairy. Additional plants are also planned in collaboration with Amul Dairy, Dudhsagar Dairy and other dairy cooperatives. With Suzuki’s investment in Mrida Ltd, all these initiatives will be carried out in a focused and scaled-up manner.
Mr T Suzuki also toured Mujkuva village in Anand, where he visited farmer households with biogas plants and solar pumps. He also visited the dairy cooperative society to understand its operations and interacted with farmers. The village leadership felicitated him.
NDDB set up NDDB Mrida Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NDDB to promote various biogas models across the country, aiming to contribute to environmental conservation and agricultural development. NDDB Mrida already promotes household-level biogas plants nationwide and manages the first-of-its-kind dung-based large capacity biogas plant, where biogas is used to meet the energy needs of a dairy plant. Mrida also produces and markets slurry-based organic fertilisers under the Sudhan brand.
