The National Dairy Development Board will provide financial and technical support to Punjab Government’s endeavour in setting up 12 milk plants in the state with an estimated outlay of about Rs 900 crore to help bail out farmers of the state from financial crisis by supplementing their income leading to another ‘white revolution’ in the state, NDBB Chairman Meenesh Shah said on Thursday.
During a discussion with Punjab Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Minister Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal at Anand today, Shah said the NDDB will arrange the required financial and technical assistance, according to an official statement.
“As there are already 11 milk plants, covering 6,000 villages in the state, the numbers would rise to 23 and cover a total of 12,000 villages. This would help in procuring additional 10 lakh litres of milk per day
“In order to overcome the problem of pollution and to provide cheaper feed to the dairy farmers, the Punjab government will establish Total Mixed Ration (TMR) plant at Amritsar on the lines of two plants successfully operational in Ganganagar and Kolhapur at an estimated outlay of Rs 80 crore
“The NDDB would provide all necessary assistance. This would also help solve the problem of burning crop residues. For imparting education in dairying on the lines of NDRI, NDDB has assured support in preparing a proposal for developing a similar institute in Punjab,” it added
