Himachal Pradesh has acquired two milk processing plant projects, amounting to Rs 3,261.16 lakh, under the auspices of the National Programme for Dairy Development for Mandi and Shimla districts.
These have been prepared by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and sanctioned by the Government of India. They will be implemented by the government of the northern state and are expected to help it in upgrading its dilapidated dairy units.
“The milk processing plants have a capacity of 50,000 litre per day (LPD). They will be located in the existing premises (Chakkar in Mandi district) and in Dutt Nagar in Shimla district,” said an official statement by the Government of Himachal Pradesh.
“Out of Rs 3261.16 lakh, Rs 2,991.50 lakh will be the Centre’s share, while the remainder (i e Rs 269.66 lakh) will be the share of the state government. This would provide direct employment to people and help thousands of farmers in Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, Bilaspur, parts of Hamirpur and Kinnaur districts,” the statement added.
While explaining the proposal, Nihal Chand Sharma, chairman, Milkfed, stated that the Government of India had approved Rs 1,629.66 lakh for the installation of the new modernised milk processing plant in Dutt Nagar and Rs 1631.49 lakh for the installation of the same in Chakkar.
In addition to these, it has also been proposed that automatic collection units at the society level; a Milko scan at the plant level to generate transparency among milk producers, road milk tankers, training to farmers, technical staff and milk cooperative members, transportation subsidy, an upgrade of the information and communication technology (ICT) system under units of the milk federations, etc. would be included in the project.
Sharma said that district Mandi is currently collecting 35,000 litre of milk per day from Mandi and parts of Kullu districts. Milk is collected through 205 village dairy cooperative societies.
“The milk processing plant in Chakkar was established in 1971 under an Indo- German project with an installed capacity of 10,000 LPD, which was later doubled to 20,000 LPD. In view of the old structure of the plant building and the increased activity level, it has been proposed that the project be upgraded and the plant capacity be increased to 50,000 LPD,” he added.
“In this proposal, there is also a plan to enhance the capacity of the Dutt Nagar facility, which is currently 20,000 LPD, by creating an additional processing facility with a capacity of 1 lakh LPD equipped with an ultra-high temperature (UHT) milk packaging plant in a new location, since sufficient vacant space is not available in the existing premises for any expansion and this plant is handling around 60,000 litre of milk in flush,” said Sharma.
“In addition to the above, the enhancement of plant capacity will also help to achieve the consumer demand for milk and milk products in urban areas in the operational area of the milk federation,” he added.
