He quit school at 16. Now his paneer empire is going public with a ₹2,035 crore IPO

In 1994, 16-year-old T. Sathishkumar dropped out of school to rescue his family’s milk business in Erode. Three decades later, he’s built a ₹2,000-crore dairy brand that’s never sold milk—and now it’s going public.

\Back then, the business was drowning in low margins and spoilage. Sathishkumar’s fix? Exit liquid milk entirely and pivot to paneer—a product with longer shelf life and nearly 4x the margins. By 1995, Milky Mist was out of milk and into value.

The strategy worked. Paneer led to curd, ghee, butter, and ice cream. Today, Milky Mist delivers to over 2,000 distributors and runs 15,000 branded chillers nationwide. Its fully automated 55-acre plant in Perundurai processes 1.5 million litres daily.

Crucially, it sources milk from 67,000 farmers—no contracts, just loyalty built through vet care, feed subsidies, and financial help. A new ₹400 crore deal with MilkLane will bring traceable premium milk from 10,000 more.

Now, the company is hitting Dalal Street with a ₹2,035 crore IPO: ₹1,785 crore fresh issue, ₹250 crore OFS by promoters. ₹750 crore will cut debt, ₹414.7 crore will expand plant capacity for yoghurt, cream cheese and whey. ₹129.4 crore will go into cold-chain gear.

Revenue hit ₹2,349.5 crore in FY24, up 29%. Profit jumped 137% to ₹46 crore. But risks loom: one plant, South-heavy sales, and big rivals like Amul and Nestlé.

Still, for a brand built on paneer and precision, Milky Mist’s IPO is a bet that quality—and margins—can travel.