The Himachal Pradesh government and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on Monday signed three MoUs in the presence of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
On behalf of the state government, Secretary Animal Husbandry Ritesh Chauhan and Managing Director of the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (Milkfed) Abhishek Verma signed the agreements, while NDDB Chairman Dr Meenesh Shah signed on behalf of the Board.
The first MoU relates to the formation and operation of the Kangra Milk Union. The second agreement concerns the establishment of two milk processing plants with a capacity of 20,000 litres per day each at Nahan in Sirmaur district and Nalagarh in Solan district. It also includes two milk chilling centres with a capacity of 20,000 litres per day at Jalari in Hamirpur district and Jhalera in Una district. The third MoU relates to the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software in Milkfed.
A fully automated and modern milk processing plant with a capacity of 1.5 lakh litres per day is being established at Dhagwar in Kangra district at a cost of Rs 250 crore. Its capacity can later be expanded to three lakh litres per day. Under the agreement, the new Milk Union will include Kangra, Una, Hamirpur and Chamba districts, which will strengthen the milk collection, processing and marketing system.
To modernise the dairy sector and bring greater transparency, ERP software is being introduced. This will enable digital management of all processes related to milk collection, quality testing, production, storage and distribution. It will also help maintain organised records of milk-producing farmers and ensure timely and transparent payments to them. In addition, production management, stock control and supply chain monitoring will become more efficient, improving the overall functioning of the dairy sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that the state government has been taking steps to strengthen the rural economy since the first day after forming the government in the state. He said the dairy sector has been given priority and these efforts will continue in the future. Through systemic reforms, the government is working to ensure that money reaches farmers directly.
He said that once the Dhagwar milk processing plant becomes operational in Kangra district, quality dairy products under the ‘Him’ brand will be introduced in the market. He added that when product quality improves, the rural economy will become stronger and farmers will receive better returns for their hard work.
He said there is no dearth of funds with the state government to strengthen the dairy sector and that around Rs 300 crore will be spent in the coming years to set up more processing units in other parts of the state.
The Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh has become the first state in the country to offer the highest support price for milk procurement. He said the government has made a historic increase in procurement prices for cow and buffalo milk. The support price for cow milk has been raised from Rs 32 to Rs 51 per litre and for buffalo milk from ₹47 to ₹61 per litre.
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