Kolkata: Banglar Dairy has already initiated the process of establishing a state-of-the-art dairy plant at the Haringhata campus of the Animal Resources Development (ARD) department that will entail a capital investment of Rs 65.58 crore. The state-of-the-art facility will have a processing capacity of 1.0 lakh litre of milk per day with provision for expansion up to 2.0 lakh litre per day. The new plant will produce pouched milk and products like paneer, ghee, curd and lassi.
“The modernisation project is ongoing at the Dankuni plant with an investment of around Rs 22.64 crore. It includes upgradation of quality control infrastructure, processing equipment, packaging machinery and boilers, among other core areas. Additionally, a further investment of Rs 6.9 crore has been earmarked for enhancing cold chain facilities, effluent treatment plants (ETP), modern product sections, and packaged drinking water facilities for Banglar Dairy,” a Nabanna official said. Banglar Dairy has benefited more than 52,000 farmers across Bengal. During the current financial year (FY), it has procured 3,00,52,128 kg milk with the farmers receiving payment, including subsidies, amounting to over Rs 114.27crore. During 2023-24 FY, the average daily procurement of milk has been 98,210 kg and the daily payment to farmers, including subsidy, is over Rs 37.34 lakh. It procured 5.69 per cent more raw milk on a daily basis compared to 2022-23 FY.
In 2022-23 FY, it procured an average 93,927 kg per day of raw milk with Rs 30,24,354 paid to farmers on a daily basis while Bengal accounted for 3.02 per cent of the national production of raw milk (230.58 million tonnes in 2022-23). Banglar Dairy propelled Bengal to achieve an annual growth rate of 8.65 per cent in milk production in 2022-23, the second-highest in the country. The objective is producing high-quality milk and dairy products for the consumer at a reasonable price, and to promote the dairy sector as a viable livelihood option to boost the rural economy of Bengal. The company has a diverse range of products, including paneer, probiotic curd, sweet curd, flavoured and plain yogurt, ghee, ice cream, and packaged drinking water. Milk is priced at Rs 4 to Rs 10 which is below the price of similar varieties of milk of the competing brands. There are 578 outlets of Banglar Dairy across the state.
Source: Millennium Post
