Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu while chairing a meeting of animal husbandry department directed to establish the dairy cooperative societies across the state, on Thursday.
To boost the dairy production these societies could play a crucial role in providing employment and self employment opportunities to the youth in the dairy sector. He said that currently in 910 panchayats, dairy cooperative societies are functional and the department should work hard to increase the number of functional societies.
Reviewing the work progress of Dagwar Milk Processing Plant in Kangra district, chief minister directed to constitute a committee to monitor the same and get it expedited. He said that the state government was setting up this milk processing plant with the capacity of 1.50 lakh litre per day with a total cost of ₹225 crore. He said that this plant was expected to be completed by June, 2026, benefitting the farmers of Kangra, Una, Hamirpur and Chamba districts.
Sukhu said, “The present state government was making earnest efforts to strengthen the rural economy. We want to enhance the income of the farmers associated with the dairy sector, therefore, the state government has raised the MSP to ₹51 per litre for cow milk and ₹61 per litre for buffalo milk.” He said that due to the efforts of the government the milk procurement of MILKFED has increased by 17% in last three years.
The state government is also contemplating to establish six new milk processing plants and milk chilling plants in Jhalera in Una district, Jhaladi in Hamirpur district, Nahan in Sirmaur district, Mohal in Kullu district, Nalagarh in Solan district and Rohru in Shimla district with an outlay of ₹120 crore, he said. This would also go a long way in collecting the milk from the farmers thereby strengthening their economy.
{{/usCountry}}The state government is also contemplating to establish six new milk processing plants and milk chilling plants in Jhalera in Una district, Jhaladi in Hamirpur district, Nahan in Sirmaur district, Mohal in Kullu district, Nalagarh in Solan district and Rohru in Shimla district with an outlay of ₹120 crore, he said. This would also go a long way in collecting the milk from the farmers thereby strengthening their economy.
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