Assam govt partners with NDDB to set up Rs 2,000-cr dairy joint venture

The Assam government and National Dairy Development Board on Friday signed an agreement to create a Rs 2,000-crore joint venture for holistic development of the sector in the state.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Guwahati in the presence of Union Animal Husbandry & Dairying Minister Parshottam Rupala, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, state Agriculture Minister Atul Bora and other senior officials.

As per the MoU, a joint venture company will be set up for Rs 2,000 crore with a target of processing 10 lakh litres of milk through six new units in seven years.

Milk from more than 4,100 dairy cooperative societies will be processed, packed and marketed.

This will benefit more than 1,75,000 farmers associated with dairy farms in Assam and increase their earnings, Sarma said.

Two cattle feed and organic manure manufacturing units will also be set up as per the agreement.

The chief minister said milk producers will be provided subsidies for market price fluctuation of their produce and urged all the cooperatives to engage in healthy competition for the economic growth of Assam.

Rupala, in his address, appreciated various initiatives undertaken by the state government for the growth and development of the dairy sector in Assam.

He asserted that new technology in the field of animal husbandry must reach farmers so that they can get benefits from it.

As part of the dairy development project, more than 15,000 high milk-yielding Gir cows will be brought to Assam to ensure high returns to the farmers of Assam.

This joint venture will be guided and managed by NDDB, and it will introduce technological innovations.

During the event, Sarma and Rupala also laid the foundation stone of Guwahati-based Purabi Dairy's expansion initiative under the World Bank-funded Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transportation Project.

As part of the expansion project, Purabi Dairy's processing capacity will be upgraded from the existing 60,000 litres per day to 1.5 lakh litres.