Banas Dairy has expanded its potato processing plant at Sanadar, Gujarat, from 2 to 5 tonnes per hour of frozen par-fried potatoes — a ₹51.65 crore investment e-inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Banas Dairy has inaugurated the expansion of its potato processing plant at Sanadar, in Deodar taluka of Vav-Tharad district — a district carved out of the historic Banaskantha region in 2025 — lifting production capacity for frozen par-fried potatoes from 2 to 5 tonnes per hour. The modernization cost ₹51.65 crore and was e-inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 30 October, a signal of how centrally potato processing now figures in India’s agri-industrial policy.
Capacity up 150%. Expansion works began in April 2026 and covered upgrades across the peeling, drying, frying, freezing and packing stages. The added capacity will allow the cooperative to step up raw material purchases from regional farmers and strengthen its output of higher-value-added products.
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A chain that starts with seed. Banas Dairy operates an integrated system spanning laboratory plantlet production, seed potato multiplication, contract farming, cold storage and industrial processing. Controlling seed and primary production lets the cooperative steer crops toward the specifications industry requires — above all tuber length, dry matter content and reducing sugar concentration, the three parameters that decide whether a potato can become a good fry. In 2024 the cooperative added a 10,000-tonne cold storage facility, and in November 2025 it signed a memorandum of understanding with the national seed body Bharatiya Beej Sahakari Samiti Limited to strengthen certified seed production and distribution.
Banaskantha: a potato powerhouse. The wider Banaskantha region is one of India’s leading potato areas. Official figures cited around the inauguration show that in 2024/25 the district produced approximately 1.87 million tonnes of potatoes at an average productivity of around 30 tonnes per hectare; separately, the area under processing-grade potato cultivation in the region has grown from around 400 hectares to 61,016 hectares over the past 25 years. Expanded industrial capacity gives local growers a new commercial outlet beyond the fresh market. For farmers who have historically sold into volatile fresh channels, a guaranteed industrial buyer at the gate changes planting economics: contract production for processing rewards exactly the agronomy — dry matter, tuber length, low reducing sugars — that the cooperative’s integrated seed system is built to deliver.
A diversified cooperative. Banas Dairy entered the French fries business under the Amul brand in 2019, having built its name primarily in dairy, but in recent years it has advanced into potato seed production, storage and processing. The company also converts processing residues into biogas, folding by-product utilization into its industrial system. The Sanadar expansion consolidates that integration: from seed to biogas, the cooperative captures value at every step of the chain. Watch whether the 5-tonnes-per-hour line runs at full utilization through the 2026/27 season — that will show whether Gujarat’s fry capacity expansion is matched by contract acreage and cold-chain throughput.
Sources: DeshGujarat; DD News (Indian government).
