Naveen inaugurates mega OMFED dairy plant in Cuttack

Bhubaneswar, Nov 10: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday inaugurated the automated milk processing plant at Arilo-Govindpur in Cuttack district. The plant has been set up by Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation (OMFED) at a cost of Rs 263 crore. The plant is the biggest one in the state. It has a capacity to process five lakh litre milk per day. The plant will produce various milk products such as milk powder, cheese, paneer and butter. The plant will daily produce 2 lakh litre milk, 30,000 litre curd, 10,000 litre butter milk, 5000 litre lassi, three ton butter, eight ton clarified butter, three ton cheese, 5000 litre flavoured milk and 20,000 ton milk powder. The Chief Minister said that OMFED is the institution of lakhs of dairy farmers in the state. The inauguration of the new plant will increase farmers’ incomes and benefit about 6 lakh farmers. Patnaik said the state government is giving a subsidy of up to Rs 50 lakh to the youth community for the establishment of dairy farms and processing units in the state. The Chief Minister called for an increase in milk production and sought everyone’s cooperation in the government’s efforts to bring about a white revolution. Patnaik said that the state government has set a target to increase the milk collection capacity of OMFED to 10 lakh liters per day. Notably, the milk production in the state has tripled in the last two decades. In 2000, the state’s milk production was 8.75 lakh metric tonnes, while in 2020 it has increased to 23.70 lakh metric tonnes.