Immense possibilities for expansion of industrial activities and employment in milk production, processing: C.M. Dr. Yadav

Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav has said that the State’s milk production should also be made a foundation of industrial activities. There are vast employment opportunities in milk production as well as in processing and marketing. At the same time, milk production is an effective means of increasing farmers’ income. By conducting activities in a coordinated manner across districts, the Sanchi brand should be expanded in every possible way. Gau Vansh and Gopal should be included in branding of Sanchi products. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav gave these directions during the meeting of the State-level Steering Committee constituted under the agreement between the Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Dairy Federation and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

The meeting was held at Samatva Bhavan, the Chief Minister’s residence, and was attended by senior MLA Shri Hemant Khandelwal, Additional Chief Secretary Shri Neeraj Mandloi, Additional Chief Secretary Shri Manish Rastogi, Principal Secretary for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Shri Umakant Umrao, and officials of the National Dairy Development Board.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that, considering the important role of milk production in increasing farmers’ income, activities should be carried out down to the village level with the objective of enhancing farmers’ skills and capacities to promote milk production. It is also necessary to ensure strong monitoring of the milk collection system. Milk procurement prices should be profitable for producers, transparency should be ensured in the procurement system, and dairy producers should receive their payments regularly within the stipulated time frame.

Chief Minister Dr. Yadav further said that milk production activities should be expanded through private participation in PPP mode in coordination with dairy cooperative societies. This will help promote entrepreneurship across the State, increase farmers’ income, and accelerate the State’s economy. He also said that training programs and courses focused on dairy technology should be started in the State’s industrial training institutes. This will help in dairy plant operations and provide local employment opportunities for youth.

It was informed that after the National Dairy Development Board assumed responsibility, public trust in the Sanchi brand has increased, and there is demand from several places to start Sanchi dairies. A 10-day roster has been fixed to ensure regular and timely payment of milk prices to milk producers. Milk procurement prices by milk unions have been increased by ₹2.50 to ₹8.50 per liter. So far, 1,241 new milk cooperative societies have been formed, and 635 inactive milk societies have been revived. To digitize the entire dairy value chain, software has been implemented in the Bhopal, Gwalior, Ujjain, Bundelkhand, and Jabalpur milk unions. A mobile app system for milk collection has been implemented through the Indore Milk Union, enabling immediate information on milk quantity, quality, and price.

It was also informed that activities are being carried out with the targets of expanding dairy cooperative coverage to 26,000 villages by the year 2029–30, collecting 5.2 million kilograms of milk per day, selling 3.5 million liters of milk per day, and achieving a daily processing capacity of 6.33 million liters. The process has been initiated to restart the Shivpuri dairy plant, which has been closed for the past two years. An investment of ₹5 crore will be made to restart the 10-metric-ton-capacity paneer plant established in Jabalpur. A 30-metric-ton-capacity milk powder plant established in Indore has been started, through which 300,000 liters of milk are being processed daily. The process of strengthening the Gwalior dairy plant has also been initiated.

The meeting was attended by National Dairy Development Board Chairman Shri Minesh Shah; Executive Director Shri S. Raghupati; General Manager Shri Jignesh Shah; Managing Director of the MP State Cooperative Dairy Federation Dr. Sanjay Goswami; Group Head Shri Aseem Nigam; Group Head Dr. Shubhankar Nanda; Director of the Animal Husbandry and Dairy Department Dr. P. S. Patel; and other officials.