The Tamil Nadu government is planning to set up a milk powder plant in Thiruvannamalai district at a cost of Rs 60 crore. The plant will have a capacity to process 200,000 litres per day and dry 20 tonnes per day.
The proposed facility will be established with the assistance of the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, said U Mathivanan, state dairy development minister. He was in Delhi to attend a state ministers meeting on food processing industries, inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.
To increase milk production and also income of milk producers, the state is implementing the Peraringnar Anna Centenary Dairy Scheme for Rural Women for Rs 22 crore, he said.
During 2008-09, the average milk procurement by dairy co-operatives in the state stood at 2.6 million litres per day and sales at 2.2 milliong litres per day.