NEW DELHI // The dairy cooperative that Verghese Kurien built in
the dusty town of Anand, in Gujarat, has gone from a daily
production of a few hundred litres of milk in 1949 to nine
million litres today. A materials engineer by training, Kurien
stumbled by accident into the world of milk cooperatives, in the
process becoming the architect of the White Revolution, which
made India the world's largest producer of milk. Kurien, who was
dubbed ''The Milkman of India,'' died yesterday at the age of
90. He leaves his wife Molly and daughter Nirmala. In a message
of condolence, the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh,hailed
Kurien as "an outstanding and innovative manager and an
exceptional human being. His contribution to the welfare of the
farmer,and agricultural production and development of the
country is immeasurable". The Gujarat Co-operative Milk
Marketing Federation (GCMMF) is now an 120-billion-rupee company
(Dh7.9bn), and its leading brand Amul is virtually a synonym for
milk and butter in India. It emp