This Farmer’s Milk ATM Serves 100s Daily, Earning Him Rs 75K/Month
On Diwali morning in 2022, as most people in Mahagaon, a small town in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district, prepared for celebrations, a quiet revolution was unfolding. Standing tall in a modest corner of the market was something the town had never seen before — a smart-card-operated milk ATM. Operated by a local farmer, it was the first of its kind in the entire Vidarbha region.
What began with just 10 litres of pasteurised milk a day has since grown into a thriving rural enterprise. Today, Sunil Kolpe, a 43-year-old farmer from nearby Fulsawangi, sells over 350 litres daily — not just through the ATM, but also via doorstep delivery and a newly opened ice-cream parlour.
When the land failed, he found another way
Kolpe owns a 24-acre farm located about 13 km from Mahagaon, where he has long cultivated sugarcane, soybean, and cotton.
“But year after year, I was receiving lesser yields,” he recalls. “Agronomic experts explained that the low organic carbon in the soil was affecting productivity. They advised me to add cow dung along with chemical fertilisers.”
At first, Kolpe tried buying cow dung from others, but spending Rs 2.5 lakh this way was simply not sustainable. That’s when he began to see a longer-term solution — one that could provide both milk and organic manure: starting his own dairy.
‘Fed up with late payments, I decided to go solo’
With banks unwilling to offer a loan, Kolpe made a tough choice. He dipped into his savings and sold his wife’s jewellery to buy 16 Murrah buffaloes from Hissar, Haryana, spending Rs 13.5 lakh. Before that, he attended a three-day online dairy training from a Kolhapur-based farm.
When Sunil’s crop yields declined, he decided to rear buffaloes and sell milk himself.
Each buffalo yielded 10–12 litres of milk daily, which he initially sold to private collection centres. But that came with its own frustrations.
“Since my milk was often rejected over minor issues and payments were consistently late, I decided to go solo and launch my dairy business,” he shares.
A modern shed with CCTV and cooling systems
With that decision made, Kolpe began investing in the foundation of a professional, self-sustained dairy. He built a scientifically designed cowshed for Rs 5.5 lakh, equipped with clean water access, cement troughs, cooling systems, milking machines, efficient waste management, and CCTV security.
Skilled workers manage the buffaloes, and their diet is carefully planned using maize, high-yield fodder like Super Napier and Mega Sweet, and mineral and calcium supplements.
“Every month, I earn Rs 75,000 from milk sales. Every six months, I get 70 to 80 trolleys of cow dung, which I use on my farm,” he says.
Today, he owns 19 buffaloes, with eight to 10 in milk production at any time, yielding 100 to 120 litres daily. He sells the milk at Rs 70 per litre, slightly above the local rate of Rs 64 — and earns around Rs 7,000 per day, spending about half on feed and labour.
The high fat content (6.5 percent) has won him a loyal customer base.
The milk ATM that made mornings easier
Inspired by similar machines in Pune and Nashik, Kolpe invested Rs 2.5 lakh in a 150-litre refrigerated milk dispenser and installed it in Mahagaon. The machine keeps milk at 4°C and accepts payments via smart card, QR code, or cash. Customers bring their own containers or plastic bags to collect milk.
To date, the milk ATM serves a customer base of around 200–250 people, many of whom have registered for rechargeable smart cards worth Rs 200. Milk sales, meanwhile, have crossed 350 litres per day.
Sunil’s milk ATM serves a customer base of 200 to 250 people, many of whom are smart card users.
Much of this growth has been fuelled by word of mouth and trust. “Sunil works really hard. He is very courteous to the customers. He has earned his customers through word of mouth. People from all walks of life are his customers. It’s the consistent quality of the milk that has earned him a good reputation,” says Pandurang Laxmanrao Kadam (51), a farmer from Amboda village, located five kilometres from the ATM.
From milk to paneer, curd, and ice cream
Kolpe hasn’t just stopped at raw milk. He now processes it into paneer, curd, buttermilk, and ghee, all sold at affordable prices. Right next to the ATM, he’s also opened a small ice-cream parlour, which draws evening footfall and adds another revenue stream to his venture.
According to Shubham Bhavsar of Bhavsar Brothers Pvt Ltd — a Nashik-based company that makes milk dispensers with capacities ranging from 60 to 600 litres — Kolpe is the first farmer in Maharashtra to install and operate such a machine independently. Typically, these machines are owned by private dairy companies, cooperatives, or unions.
Scaling up, one litre at a time
Kolpe’s next goal is already charted. He aims to expand his herd by 10 more buffaloes and hit a daily sales target of 1,000 litres. The infrastructure, trust, and business model are already in place.
His story isn’t just about milk. It’s about determination, self-reliance, and what’s possible when farmers take the future into their own hands. In a small corner of Yavatmal, Sunil Kolpe didn’t just build a dairy — he built trust, dignity, and a model for rural innovation that could inspire many more across the country.
Edited by Khushi Arora; All images courtesy Hiren Bose
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