Come Diwali, Sudha milk products would hit the national capital markets after scripting a success story spanning over three decades in the state.

Patna Dairy Project, Bihar’s flagship milk co-operative society which sells its products under the brand name Sudha, has decided to join hands with a private company in Delhi for producing, packaging and marketing its products in the national capital and its suburbs. Sudhir Singh, the managing director of Patna Dairy Project told The Telegraph that three manufacturers had been shortlisted for the purpose. The work would be outsourced to one of them soon.

The dairy, which procures over 12 lakh litres of milk per day in Bihar, has hired a plant at Sahibabad (in Uttar Pradesh) in the national capital region (NCR) for setting up the production and packaging unit.

“We want to launch our products in the NCR market before Diwali. To start with, we will supply 50,000 litres of milk to the plant every day. It will be used for manufacturing various dairy products. Then they would be sold in the market with our brand name. Patna Dairy Project will do the quality control,” said Singh.

At present, Patna Dairy Project supplies 5 lakh litres of milk to Mother Dairy, Amul and Dairy Marketing Services (DMS) in the NCR every day.

“We have been supplying milk to Delhi. But now our plan is to enter the market with our own brand,” Singh added.

As part of its expansion plans, Patna Dairy Project recently started a Sudha outlet in Delhi. Operating from Bihar Emporium near Connaught Place, the store has been an instant hit.

“This is our first outlet in the NCR and was launched on August 1. The idea was to make Delhites familiar with the brand. The response of buyers has been overwhelming. We sell gulabjamun, balushahi , two varieties of peda and soan papadi at the outlet. All of them have been selling like hot cakes,” said Rajeev Kumar, the marketing in-charge of Patna Dairy Project in the national capital.

He said the store had sold products worth over Rs 1.2 lakh so far. Recently, a private agency was hired for advertising the brand aggressively in the NCR.

The products’ price at the Delhi store is slightly higher than that in Bihar. “I was a little shocked when I learnt that I will have to pay Rs 60 more for 1kg peda than what I paid in Patna,” said Sanjana Sharma, a customer.

Kumar, the marketing in-charge of the dairy farm, said: “True, the price of the products is a little higher here than that in Bihar. But that depends on a number of factors. The rates were decided after adding VAT, transportation cost and profit margin.”

He claimed that the higher price did not have any bearing on the footfall. “Those who have trust in our quality are delighted that they are now getting the products here,” he added.