At a time when the quality of dairy products, particularly ghee, has become a contentious issue, Congress govt has initiated an independent third-party evaluation of the state-owned Vijaya Dairy’s mega greenfield facility located in Raviryal, Rangareddy district. This plant was inaugurated in 2021 during the BRS tenure and commenced operations in Dec 2023.
According to reliable sources, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), the turnkey agency for this project, has expressed a desire to withdraw from the project, while the govt is examining operational shortcomings within the dairy sector.
A turnkey contract entails an independent contractor responsible for providing all necessary materials and labour and managing all aspects of project completion for a predetermined price. It was anticipated that, with an investment of 246 crore, the plant would meet the needs of consumers in the city and surrounding areas. The state govt has already disbursed 200 crore to the NDDB.Currently, Vijaya Dairy operates the Lalapet dairy plant in Tarnaka, which has been in operation since 1967 and supplies 400,000 litres of milk per day to satisfy the city’s demand. The new facility at Raviryal was expected, per the contract, to achieve a production capacity of between 500,000 to 800,000 litres per day.
Spanning 40 acres, the mega-dairy was designed to include an ultra-high temperature processing plant with a capacity of 100,000 litres per day, aimed at producing products with extended shelf life, as well as an ice cream production facility with a capacity of 5,000 litres per day. However, sources from the Telangana State Dairy Development Cooperative Federation Limited indicated that, although the Detailed Project Report (DPR) projected a production capacity of around 500,000 litres, the current output is restricted to 300,000 litres.
“There are deficiencies in sewerage management and ice cream production, and the plant is not fully operational. While the turnkey agency is a central govt entity, there are concerns regarding the undue involvement from higher levels (state) in the project in the past. The project appears to have deviated from the DPR specifications,” sources revealed. Efforts are underway to identify solutions.
