Patna: For the first time, graduates from premier institutions such as the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Bodh Gaya are taking up jobs in Bihar in significant numbers — a development seen as a major endorsement of the state’s evolving professional landscape.
In a milestone move, 19 IIM Bodh Gaya students have joined Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation (Comfed) through campus placement. The development reflects not only Comfed’s expanding operations but also the growing interest of elite management graduates in Bihar-based opportunities.
Comfed, the state’s apex cooperative body in the dairy sector, markets milk and milk-based products under the Sudha brand. It collects 30 lakh litres of milk daily from over 14.45 lakh cattle-rearing members and distributes products across Bihar, Jharkhand, Delhi NCR, West Bengal, and the North-East.
The cooperative has also begun to make inroads into international markets, with tin-packed gulab jamun exported to Canada and ghee reaching shelves in the US. This makes Comfed the third major dairy cooperative in India to enter global markets, after Amul and Nandini.
To support its ambitious expansion, Comfed has also recruited five students from Chandragupta Institute of Management Patna, one from Vikas Prabandhan Sansthan Patna, and six from the L.N. Mishra Institute of Economic Development and Social Change.
Currently employing around 4,000 people directly and 40,000 indirectly, Comfed aims to raise those figures to 12,000 and 1.2 lakh respectively over the next five years. It is also targeting an increase in its annual turnover from Rs 5,500 crore to Rs 10,000 crore.
Dr N Vijayalakshmi, Additional Chief Secretary of Bihar’s Animal and Fisheries Resources Department, noted the dual benefits of Comfed’s expansion: “With its quality products and a steadily growing marketing footprint, Comfed’s business is rising, and so is the income of dairy farmers.”
To stay competitive, Comfed has also launched new products such as anarsa, cow ghee, thermopack peda and paneer, petjar ghee, and misti doi.
The inclusion of management talent from IIM and other institutes is a strategic step as Comfed looks to scale operations and bolster its presence in Southeast Asia, the Arab world, and South Africa in the coming years.
