Himachal Pradesh government's efforts to strengthen the rural economy are yielding positive results and the historic hike in milk procurement price has led to a consistent rise in government milk procurement, claimed an official spokesman on Thursday.
The spokesman said that the HP State Co-operative Milk Producers Federation Ltd is now on average procuring two lakh litres per day and the monthly payouts to the milk producers have increased from ₹8.70 crore to ₹25.62 crore, providing direct financial benefits to milk producers.
He said the present state government has taken numerous steps to bolster the milk-based economy.
"We are procuring cow's milk at ₹45 per litre and buffalo milk at ₹55 per litre. Since 90 per cent of the state's population resides in rural areas, our aim is to ensure money reaches the hands of the villagers, enabling their economic development. The government will continue to make significant decisions in this direction in the future as well."
"To bring transparency in milk procurement, 455 automated milk collection centres have been established across the state through Milkfed. The Milkfed collects milk directly from the farmers' doorsteps even in the remotest part of the state, ensuring financial benefits to improve their social and economic conditions. Additionally, Milkfed is also providing farmers with 5 litre capacity cans," he said.
"The Federation is also implementing dairy development programmes in 11 districts of the State forming 1,148 village dairy cooperative societies and registering 47,905 members under this umbrella. These initiatives aim to enhance the livelihood standards of the rural community and strengthen the state's dairy economy," he added.
The spokesman said the state government has also initiated a Him Ganga Yojna from the current financial year with an initial outlay of ₹500 crore. He said that the state government has set up a new milk processing plant with a daily capacity of 50,000 litres at Duttnagar in Shimla district with a cost of ₹25 crore.
Additionally, the government is also establishing a new processing plant with a capacity of 1.50 lakh litres per day at Dhagwar in Kangra district.
Follow us
