2 lakh primary dairies will be set up at village level across India in 3 years

The mega dairy of Mandya Milk Union (Manmul) that will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah at Gejjalagere in Mandya on Friday has the capacity to process 14 lakh litres of milk. The Manmul earlier had a processing capacity of 10 lakh litres.

Union Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah on Friday said two lakh primary dairies will be set up at village level across the country in three years, which will associate farmers with the white revolution, and make India a big exporter in the milk sector.

He also complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi for creating a separate Ministry of Cooperation and opening up the path of progress for India’s farmers.

“Soon after independence Indian farmers had demanded that the Cooperative Ministry should be separate from the Agriculture Ministry, if someone had worked on it then, today the situation of Indian farmers would have been different,” Shah said.

Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a mega dairy at Gejjalagere here, he said, “from this stage I want to tell all those associated with cooperatives across the country that no injustice will happen to them any more, this is the decision of the Government of India.”

Shah further said it has been decided to set up a primary dairy in every panchayat of the country, in the next three years, and for this Union Cooperative Ministry has prepared a three-year action plan.

“We will set up 2 lakh primary dairies at village level across the country in three years, through this we will associate farmers across the country with the white revolution, and with this India will become a big exporter in the milk sector,” he added.

Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, Nirmalanandanatha Swamiji- the head of Adichunchanagiri Math, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi, state Cooperative Minister S T Somashekar were among others present at the event.

The Mandya District Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited has established a mega dairy unit on its premises in Gejjalagere, Maddur taluk here.

The dairy is also equipped with a plant for producing 30 tonnes of milk powder daily. The packing unit that is also part of the plant can package six lakh litres of milk daily.

Also, the mega dairy has a capacity to produce two lakh litres of Ultra-high temperature milk (UHT).

Mandya District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union was formed in 1988 and more than 1,276 societies are part of the union. Over 500 women’s co-op societies are also part of the union.

In 2022-23, the milk union procured an average of 9.26 lakh litres of milk, and a maximum of 10.41 lakh litres of milk, a note from Manmul said.

The milk union has been distributing milk powder to schools under Ksheera Bhagya. It supplied 811 tonnes of powder worth ₹22.59 crore in 2022-23.

In 2021-22, the union made a profit of ₹713 lakh after earning revenue of ₹1,31,519 lakh. The union also supplied 493 tonnes of milk powder to anganwadi centers, the note said.