MATHURA, Dec 26: The Uttar Pradesh Government is pushing ahead with a plan to put all the milk plants of the state in the running mode by 2018-end.
“While existing plants would be renovated, 11 new plants are also on the cards,” said Laxmi Narain Chaudhary, Uttar Pradesh Minister for Dairying, Wakf, Minorities welfare and Culture.
By the end of 2018, Chaudhary added, all the dairy plants will become functional.
An ultra modern dairy unit with a capacity of 3 lakh litres daily is coming up in Mathura. With an investment of Rs 200 crore, it would be better than Amul dairy in Gujarat, he claimed while interacting with reporters in Mathura yesterday.
The facility will produce butter, milk, butter milk, ghee, cream, sweets, powdered milk and the like.
Last Deepawali, the existing Mathura dairy had produced 27 tonnes of pure ghee sweets.
The sharper focus on milk is expected to benefit the common man and will lead to higher income for farmers.
To ensure availability of sufficient milk in Mathura, the earlier plant has been made functional, Chaudhary added.
Ten new plants, including in Kannauj, Kanpur, Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Varanasi, are being set up with an investment of Rs 1,200 crore, and four existing ones are being renovated at a cost of Rs 240 crore.
The minister expects the Kannauj plant to be functional from January and the Kanpur one from March 2018. (PTI)