The Himachal government will set up a state-of-the-art milk processing plant at a cost of Rs 250 crore at Dagwar in Kangra district, according to state Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Presiding over a meeting here, Sukhu in a statement issued on Monday said that the milk processing plant would be set up in collaboration with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and assistance of NDDB would be taken in its operation to marketing.
The chief minister said that the capacity of the Dagwar plant would range from one lakh litres to three lakh litres, in which high quality products of milk would also be prepared.
Further, he said that the Congress party in its ’Pratigyapatra’ had promised to buy cow’s milk at Rs 80 per litre and buffalo’s milk at Rs 100 per litre from the dairy farmers and the state government is moving towards fulfilling the same promise.
Sukhu said the establishment of the plant at Dagwar would benefit the farmers of Kangra, Hamirpur, Una and Chamba districts, and NDDB shall conduct a survey for the milk collection system in these areas. The state government was determined not to use plastic in the packaging of dairy products, so it should also explore alternatives to plastic, so that the climate and air of the state could be saved from the polluting ingredients of plastics, the chief minister added.
According to Sukhu, about 90 per cent of the population of the state lives in rural areas, and animal husbandry and agriculture were closely related to each other. The state government is trying to increase the income of the farmers, for which it is necessary to strengthen the rural economy, he added.
The NDDB Chairman, Meenesh Shah, said that he would provide all possible help to Himachal Pradesh for this mission. The NDDB will also provide two consultants at its own cost for the operation of the plant and marketing of milk products, the statement said.
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