The State government will collaborate with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to set up a state-of-the-art milk processing plant at Dagwar in district Kangra. While presiding over a meeting at Oak Over here today, Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the milk processing plant would be set up at a cost of about Rs. 250 crore and NDDB's assistance would be taken in its operation to marketing.
The Chief Minister said that the capacity of the Dagwar plant would range from one lakh liters to three lakh litres, in which high quality products of milk would also be prepared. He said that the Congress party in its ‘Pratigyapatra’ has promised to buy cow's milk at Rs. 80 per liter and buffalo's milk at Rs.100 per liter from the farmers and the State Government was moving towards fulfilling this promise.
He said that the State Government was committed to promote dairy based industry in the state.Sh. Sukhu said that 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 Chief Minister said that 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 about 90 percent 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.
NDDB Chairman, Meenesh Shah said that he would provide all possible help to Himachal for this mission. NDDB will also provide two consultants at its own cost for the operation of the plant and marketing of milk products.
Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister, Chander Kumar, Chief Parliamentary Secretaries, Chaudhary Ram Kumar and Ashish Butail, Chairman H.P. Milkfed Federation, Nihal Chand Sharma, Principal Advisor, Ram Subhag Singh, Secretary Agriculture, Rakesh Kanwar and other officials were present in the meeting.