Indian state Odisha to build two new dairy facilities

The Indian state of Odisha is set to construct two new dairy facilities, in order to increase milk production capacity in the region.

The proposed dairy facilities, which will involve an investment of around INR80m ($1.3m) each, will be located in Angul and Keonjhar.

Each facility is expected to have the capacity to process around 30,000 litres per day, once operational.

Odisha state agriculture, fisheries and animal resources development minister Pradeep Maharathy was quoted by Business Standard as saying: "For forward linkage on marketing milk supplied by the dairy farmers, our government has supported establishment of eleven dairy plants having capacity of 5.45 lakh [545,000] litres per day with more than 350 bulk milk coolers, ice cream plants, milk powder plant and milk product factory.

"Construction of two new dairy plants, two ice cream plants and one more cattle feed plant are under progress."

The state is planning to build the two new ice cream production facilities at Sambalpur and Bhawanipatana, with an investment of around INR130m ($2.11m).

In addition, the state intends to build a new cattle feed plant near Phulnakhara in Cuttack district.

Milk production in the state has increased from 1.4 million tonnes per annum in 2006-07 to 1.78 million tonnes per annum in 2013-14.

Odisha state chief minister Naveen Patnaik was quoted by publication as saying: "This [increase] has been possible due to sustained efforts to organise farmers into dairy cooperation. Nearly 80% of milk in the state is produced by small holders and cooperatives have been instrumental in boosting their income."

Odisha has a cattle population of about 12.3 million, which accounts for 1.4% of the national milk production.