HP govt plans to process surplus milk into ghee, sell at affordable rates

The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to process surplus milk into ghee and sell it at affordable rates to give a boost to the dairy industry in the state and ensure timely payments to milk selling farmers said Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on TuesdayResponding to a question from BJP MLA Satpal Singh Satti in Vidhan Sabha Sukhu said the government would clear all outstanding dues owed to milk producers for February and March next monthHe also announced that the government is establishing a highend stateoftheart milk processing plant at Dagwar in the Kangra districtFollowing the hike in milk prices implemented by the Himachal Pradesh government milk production has witnessed a significant surge and as a result the government now finds itself with a surplus of milkFor the first time producers have developed a genuine inclination to adopt milk production as a viable means of livelihood he said and added that rather than selling this surplus milk to other states the government has decided to process it into ghee and sell it at affordable ratesTaking a jibe at the previous BJP government he observed that prior to this no one bothered about this sector nor had officials ever offered any suggestions regarding itThe proposed Dagwar plant is expected to become operational by October 2026 Once this plant becomes functional the entire milk produced within the state will be consumed and processed locallyEarlier Agriculture Minister Chandra Kumar stated that the number of milk producers in the state has increased and therefore the existing milk processing plants are unable to process the entire volume compelling the government to sell the surplus milk to organizations such as Mother Dairy and AmulHe said that the plant currently under construction at Dagwar will have the capacity to process approximately 45 lakh liters of milk daily He further affirmed that the government is continuously working to increase the number of milk chilling and processing plants across the stateResponding to a query raised by LahaulSpiti MLA Anuradha Rana Minister for Youth Services and Sports Yadvinder Gomma said that the Himachal government is considering granting statelevel recognition to ice hockeyHe said that the construction of an ice hockey rink in Kaza at a cost of Rs 7377 crore is set to commence shortly as the necessary procedural formalities have already been completedReplying to a question from MLA Puran Chand Thakur Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh said that the decision to shift the PWD division from Thalout in Mandi district to Pandoh was an administrative one and the government arrived at this decision after careful deliberationHe said that while the division in Thalout was operating out of a rented building it has now been relocated to a governmentowned building in Pandoh He further emphasized that the relocation of this office was driven entirely by administrative considerations and involved absolutely no political motivesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever