Agro-industrialist Dattatraya Bhaskar Chitale, alias Kakasaheb, the patriarch of Chitale Dairy Farms, passed away at Miraj, Sangli, on Saturday. He was 78 years old.
Chitale is survived by his wife Sunita, sons Girish and Makarand, daughter Veena Sahasrabuddhe, family members and relatives.
“He was admitted to a private hospital following complaints of chest pain on Friday and was undergoing treatment,” said Indraneel Chitale, his grandson.
“We are all shocked by the sudden demise of Kakasaheb. He was doing fine till Saturday evening and this was unexpected. Two weeks ago, he was enjoying celebrations at a family wedding. We are all coming to terms with the loss and it will take some time to sink in. His work ethic and social involvement at the village and farmer levels was inspirational,” added Indraneel.
The 81-year-old Chitale Dairy, which Kakasaheb Chitale spearheaded for several decades, is ranked among the oldest and most reputed farm products institutions in the country.
The company was launched in the family home’s backyard in Bhilawadi (Sangli) village in 1939 by his father, the late Bhaskar Ganesh alias Babasaheb Chitale, and after his demise, Kakasaheb took over the reins and built it into a globally-recognised household brand after completing his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering.
From its ultra-modern plants that deploy ‘cloud technology’, the dairy farm produces around 3,00,000 litres of milk everyday which supports more than 50,000 farmers and looks after 2,00,000 cows and buffaloes.The milk is sold all over the state, besides the entire range of dairy products like butter, paneer (cottage cheese), cheese, ghee, khoya, shrikhand, lassi, milk powder, bakarwadi under the Chitale brand. Besides the family’s agro-businesses, Kakasaheb was deeply involved in a variety of social, cultural, educational, community and public welfare activities around Maharashtra.
{{/usCountry}}From its ultra-modern plants that deploy ‘cloud technology’, the dairy farm produces around 3,00,000 litres of milk everyday which supports more than 50,000 farmers and looks after 2,00,000 cows and buffaloes.The milk is sold all over the state, besides the entire range of dairy products like butter, paneer (cottage cheese), cheese, ghee, khoya, shrikhand, lassi, milk powder, bakarwadi under the Chitale brand. Besides the family’s agro-businesses, Kakasaheb was deeply involved in a variety of social, cultural, educational, community and public welfare activities around Maharashtra.
{{/usCountry}}Kakasaheb also overlooked the proceedings of Giants Welfare Foundation as an interim committee member as well as ex-president of the association.
He has also worked as President of Bhilwadi Public Library, Trustee of Bhilawdi Education Organisation, Mata Baalnsangopan Kendra, Vivekanand Eye Clinic, various other social, educational, healthcare and has done commendable work with various pharma organisations. His passing away has created a huge vacuum in Maharashtrian Diary Industry and whole of Bhilwadi.
Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule, state Congress President and revenue minister Balasaheb Thorat, Bharatiya Janata Party Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and others have expressed grief over the death of Chitale and lauded his contributions to the development of the state agro-industry sector.