In a relief for dairy farmers, the Haryana government on Wednesday said it has decided to waive outstanding dues of milk cess amounting to Rs 1,268 crore.
The decision will help milk plants in their day-to-day working capital requirement and also to buy more milk at better price, which will bring more prosperity to the farmers, an official spokesman said.
There is a plan to introduce a 'One-time Settlement' of past dues of milk cess levied on milk plants in the state, the spokesman said.
The defaulter entity may be permitted to pay the pending principal amount of cess due along with simple interest at the rate of 12 per cent (from the date of default) for receiving the benefits of the scheme.
Milk cess was started in 2001 under the Haryana Murrah Buffalo and Other Milch Animals Breed (Preservation and Development of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Sector) Act 2001.
It is applicable only to plants having processing capacity more than 10,000 litres of milk per day and not to chilling plants and was meant to help the development of Murrah, Sahiwal and Hariana breeds besides establishing Haryana Livestock Development Board.
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