Akshaya Patra proudly inaugurated its Ahmedabad kitchen on 03 August, 2014. The kitchen, constructed across three levels, and spread over two acres is one of the largest kitchen in the country. The centralised kitchen was inaugurated by Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel with Vasuben Trivedi, Minister of State-Women and Child Development, Government of Gujarat, along with other dignitaries.

Constructed on the gravity flow system, the Ahmedabad kitchen has replaced the Akshaya Patra kitchen in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. Equipped with a roti (Indian flat bread) making machine that can churn out up to 60,000 rotis an hour, as well as boilers, rice cleaning machines, rice and dal silos, cold storage and more, this kitchen can produce up to 200,000 meals in five hours. The kitchen is also fitted with a full-scale bakery to produce wheat-based food to the young children.

On every school day 4.5 tonnes of rice, 8 tonnes of vegetable and 3 tonnes of dal will be cooked and loaded into 44 custom designed meal distribution vehicles and delivered to 121,508 children in 666 schools across Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad districts.

Expressing her support of Akshaya Patra’s mid-day meal programmme Anandiben Patel said, “I strongly believe the mid-day meal from The Akshaya Patra Foundation will fulfill the goal of making Gujarat free of malnutrition. I hope the healthy and nutritious food provided to children from Akshaya Patra will build healthy minds and body. The Gujarat government is eager to support Akshaya Patra’s activities to build a strong society and a strong nation. I wish success to all the people working in the new centralised kitchen of The Akshaya Patra Foundation.”

The kitchen which cost a total of 15 crore, was developed through the generosity of some distinguished donors. The Principal Sponsor was The Hans Foundation who supported the capital expenditure, equipment and vehicle costs. The kitchen was Co-Sponsored by the Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC) who contributed to the kitchen equipment, while the land was donated by Chimanlal Agrawal & family, and Nandlal Agrawal & family.

Showing a shared interest in Akshaya Patra’s cause, Sweta Rawat, Managing Director, The Hans Foundation said, “Mid-day meals act as stimulus for children to come to school and continue their education. It provides necessary nutrients for the physical and mental growth of a child. The Hans Foundation’s mandate is to support and strengthen resources that will improve the quality of a student’s life. We are happy to extend support to The Akshaya Patra Foundation in this noble endeavor.”

The occasion was presided over by MadhuPandit Dasa, Chairman, The Akshaya Patra Foundation, who expressed his gratitude saying, “Feeding millions of children every day, with the pressing need to expand, excel and enhance our programme is a challenging task. We are thankful to the Government of Gujarat for giving us the opportunity to serve the children of Ahmedabad. We also thank our donors who have contributed and re-dedicate ourselves to reach our goal of feeding 5 million children by 2020.”