Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Hon’ble Union Agriculture Minister, Govt. of India to Inaugurate Mother Dairy’s First Milk Processing Plant in Eastern India

Jaipur, 18 January 2019: Shri Radha Mohan Singh, Hon’ble Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India, will inaugurate Mother Dairy’s state-of-the-art milk processing plant at Math Banwari, near Pipra Kothi in Motihari, Bihar on January 19, 2019. Shri Sushil Kumar Modi, Hon’ble Deputy Chief Minister, Government of Bihar will be the Chief Guest on the occasion. The inaugural ceremony will also be graced by Shri Pramod Kumar, Hon’ble Tourism Minister, Government of Bihar, Respected Members of Legislative Assembly, Shri Rajesh Kumar Gupta, Shri Shyam Babu Prasad Yadav, Shri Sachindra Prasad Singh and Shri Raju Tiwari along-with Shri Dilip Rath, Chairman, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and Mother Dairy officials.

The Hon’ble Union Agriculture Minister has played a key role in providing market access to the dairy farmers of Motihari and ensuring fair and remunerative prices for their produce. Working towards the cause of rural prosperity, the Union Agriculture Minister inaugurated the Bapudham Milk Producers Company on the auspicious occasion of Gandhi Jayanti in 2017. The Producers Company paved way for a streamlined and transparent milk collection system, wherein farmers started pouring milk, which was serviced to the markets of Delhi and Kolkata.

Today, Bapudham Milk Producers Company is associated with around 33000 dairy farmers from over 900 villages of East and West Champaran. Out of the total farmer count, 51% is represented by women farmers. With a strength of 902 milk pooling points (MPP) and 23 Bulk milk Coolers (BMC), the current milk collection from the region has crossed the 70000 litres per day mark. The institution aims to strengthen its farmer connect taking the total count to 50000 farmers spread over 1250 villages and procure over 2 Lakh litres of milk per day.

To further strengthen the initiative and development of dairy infrastructure in the region, Mother Dairy has come up with a milk processing plant in a record time of 11 months. Spread over an area of 4.5 acres, the newly built plant has a milk processing capacity of 1 lakh litres/day and entails an investment of around Rs. 15 crore.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri. Dilip Rath, Chairman, NDDB, said, “NDDB, in its endeavour to support and increase the farmers’ income, is providing institutional support to develop the dairying practices across the region. The establishment of new milk processing facility is aimed to serve the purpose of providing a sustainable business model while enhancing the milk productivity in the region.” He added, “Formation of Bapudham Milk Producers Company has ensured remunerative returns with direct bank transfer. The farmers associated are also being assisted with interventions like Ration Balancing Program, A.I facilities, cattle feed & mineral mixture, etc. to further help in increasing the productivity of the animals.”

Shri Rath also thanked the Union Agriculture Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh, for his personal involvement throughout and said that it is under his direction, the initiative aimed towards the prosperity of farmers of the region is now turning into reality.

Commenting on the development, Shri Sanjeev Khanna, Managing Director, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd., said, “With the facility going functional, consumers across the region will now have access to Delhi/NCR’s favourite milk brand being available in close vicinity. The new facility houses equipment with latest technology to monitor and record all critical process parameters for ensuring milk quality on a continuous basis. The entire initiative is to establish a viable and sustainable business model of sourcing and marketing of fresh milk.”

Shri Saugata Mitra, Director, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd., elaborated, “With the new facility, Mother Dairy is now entering the state of Bihar with its range of milk variants including Full Cream, Toned, Super T Standardized along-with the famed Cow Milk for consumers across 6 districts of North Bihar and will be made available at around 1000 retail outlets across these regions. We plan to sell around 20,000-25,000 litres per day by the end of 2019.”

 

About Manish Mathur