The Odisha government on Thursday approved setting up of a five lakh litre per day automated dairy and milk production plant to handle increased procurement of milk in the state.
The state cabinet headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik approved the proposal of Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (OMFED).
With the increase in milk processing capacity, OMFED will become self-sufficient to handle 10 lakh litres per day.
The proposed plant, slated come up at Barang area on 2.5 acres of land within two and a half years, will be set up by National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on turn-key basis and will be a fully automated, modern state of the art dairy plant, said Chief Secretary A.P. Padhi.
The detailed project report will be prepared by NDDB.
The plant will substantially help in reducing the present processing cost per litre of milk and thus establish a leading role for the Dairy Federation in processing and marketing of quality milk and milk products in the state, said Padhi.
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He said milk producers as well as the consumers would be benefitted as the producers would get better price and the consumers will get value for their money.
The new dairy plant will help in procurement and marketing of surplus milk, which will encourage farmers to take up dairy farming as an income generation activity.
Thecabinet also approved a tender for construction of underground pipeline irrigation system for 13,800 hactare in Nuapada and Bolangir districts.
The state government has decided, as a pilot project, to implement the Lower Indra irrigation project, which has successfully been implemented in other states in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Maharashtra.
Megha Engineering and Infrastructures has been awarded for the construction of the project with an estimated cost of Rs 242.99 crore, said Water Resources Secretary P.K. Jena.
The cabinet also decided to provide safe drinking water to fluoride-affected 217 villages in Nuapada district at an outlay of Rs 370 crore.
A total 905 villages of Nuapada district are affected by fluoride content in water. However, the state government is taking steps to provide safe drinking water to the villages.
--IANS
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