Lagatar24 Desk
Shimla, June 19: The State government will collaborate with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to build a state-of-the-art milk processing plant at Dagwar in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, an official release said.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu announced during a meeting at Oak Over that the milk processing plant will be built for about Rs 250 crores and that NDDB would be involved in all aspects of its operating to marketing.
he Chief Minister said, “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.”
He said that the State Government was working to fulfil a promise made by the Congress party in its “Pratigyapatra” to purchase cow’s milk at a cost of Rs. 80 per litre and buffalo’s milk at a cost of Rs. 100 per litre from farmers. He declared that the state government was dedicated to advancing the dairy business in the state.
CM Sukhu further stated that the farmers in the districts of Kangra, Hamirpur, Una, and Chamba will benefit from the plant’s establishment in Dagwar, and the NDDB will carry out a survey for the milk collection system in those areas.
The Chief Minister said, “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 Himachal could be saved from the polluting ingredients of plastics.”
He said that 90% of the state’s residents reside in rural areas and that agriculture and animal husbandry are intertwined to each other. He continued that in order to enhance farmers’ incomes, the state government must strengthen the rural economy.
Meenesh Shah, the chairman of the NDDB, promised to assist Himachal in any way he could with this mission. For the purpose of operating the plant and marketing of milk products, NDDB will also provide two consultants at it own cost.
The meeting was attended by Chander Kumar, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Chaudhary Ram Kumar, Ashish Butail, Chairman of the H.P. Milkfed Federation Nihal Chand Sharma, Principal Advisor, Ram Subhag Singh, agriculture secretary, Rakesh Kanwar, and other officials.
