Time has come to give importance to innovation and value addition: PM Modi

New Delhi, Oct 1 (KNN) Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking at Anand a district of Gujarat, stressed upon the significance of innovation and value addition.

He said, "There was a time when there would be scarcity. We had to import food grains. Now, things have changed. The time has come to give importance to innovation and value addition.”

Prime Minister Modi was at Anand to inaugurate a number of modern food processing facilities worth Rs 1100 crore.

He also inaugurated Amul's ultra-modern chocolate plant and Anand Agricultural Univesity's incubation centre-cum-centre of excellence in food processing, a solar cooperative society at Mujhkuva village and laid the foundation stone for the expansion of Amul manufacturing facilities at Anand and Khatraj.

Prime Minister Modi while speaking about the importance of the cooperative sector in helping the farmers of Gujarat said, "Not only Amul, people in North Gujrat also worked in the cooperative sector. We have the Banas Dairy, the Dudhsagar Dairy. All these endeavours helped the people of Gujarat, particularly the farmers.

He added, “For a long time, we had people sitting in Gandhinagar who disliked the cooperatives. They prevented the sector from acquiring a foothold in Saurashtra. Things changed after the late 1990s and today almost all districts in Gujrat are doing well in the sector."

Emphasizing on the global brand value of Amul, Prime Minister Modi also termed it as an outstanding model of empowerment.

"The brand of Amul is known worldwide. Today, Amul has become an inspiration across the globe. People from overseas also ask me about Amul. Amul is not only about milk pocessing. This is an excellent model of empowerment," he said.

He also underscored the need of exploring possibilities with the camel milk.

He said, "A long time back, I had gone to Kutch and spoken about the need to popularise camel milk. That time a group of people mocked me. But, today the camel milk chocolate of Amul is doing well. We are doing well in milk pocessing but we can do even better. And, I am sure if Amul thinks in this direction, it will surely happen even faster.”

"In various parts of the world, at various times we saw what socialism is, we also saw capitalism. But, through Amul, Sardar Patel showed another way. Here is a way where neither Government nor industrialists call the shots. It is the people who matter. This is a unique model,” he said while talking about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's most important contribution in the field of cooperative development.

Further adding to it he said, "A century ago, Sardar Patel entered civic politics of Ahmedabad. He won from Dariapur. His margin of victory then was 1 vote.”

He also said, “When he assumed office as the head of the municipality, he laid emphasis on urban development, planning and in that he worked on cooperative housing.”

“Guided by Sardar Patel, Pritam Rai Desai Ji worked on cooperative housing in a big way in Ahmedabad. These efforts gave wings to the aspirations of several people," he added.

"We are focusing on Jan Dhan,Van Dhan and Gobar Dhan. This will help our farmers. In a few years, Amul will complete 75 years. This is a team that is unstoppable. I admire their spirit. Let us think about what targets Amul can set for their own 75th anniversary and for 2022 when India marks 75 years of freedom," he said while praising the spirit of Amul.

He also requested more dairies to work towards 'sweet revolution'.

"I told several dairies in Gujarat to also work on the sweet revolution, which is related to honeybees. I am aware that Banas Dairy and the dairy in Amreli have done commendable work in this direction. I urge more dairies to also devote attention to this," he said.