The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of multiple projects worth more than Rs 1,000 at Sabar Dairy at Gadhoda Chowki, Sabarkantha in Gujarat on Thursday.
On the occasion the PM inaugurated A Powder Plant at Sabar Dairy with a capacity of around 120 metric tonnes per day and at the cost of Rs 300 crores. Aseptic Milk Packaging Plant launched by Modi is a state-of-the-art plant having capacity of 3 Lakh Litre per day. The project has been executed with a total investment of around Rs 125 crores.
The Prime Minister also laid the foundation stone of the Sabar Cheese & Whey Drying Plant Project. The estimated outlay of the project is around Rs. 600 crores. The Plant will manufacture Cheddar Cheese (20 MTPD), Mozzarella Cheese (10 MTPD) and Processed Cheese (16 MTPD). Whey generated during manufacturing of cheese shall also be dried at Whey Drying Plant, having capacity of 40 MTPD.
It bears recall that the Sabar Dairy is a part of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which makes and markets a whole range of milk and milk products under the Amul brand.
Speaking on the occasion, Modi said these projects will empower local farmers and milk producers and increase their income. The PM also felicitated beneficiaries of Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme and top women milk producers. Chief Minister of Gujarat Bhupendrabhai Patel, Chairman and Vice Chairman of GCMMF Shamal Patel and Valamji Humbal, NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah, IFFCO Chairman Dileep Sanghani were among those present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister said that “today new projects worth hundreds of crores are being set up at Sabar Dairy’. He also remembered Bhurabhai Patel, one of the founder personalities of the Sabar Dairy. The Prime Minister also recalled his long association with the area and local people.
The Prime Minister also talked about steps for promoting animal husbandry by providing fodder, medicine and also promoting Ayurvedic treatment for cattle. He mentioned Gujarat Jyotigram Scheme as a catalyst of development.
Due to steps taken in the past two decades the dairy market in Gujarat has reached 1 lakh crore rupees, said the PM recalling his earlier visits in 2007 and 2011 and his request to increase the participation of women. Now most of the committees have good representation of women. Payment for milk is mostly done to women, he said.
Modi said these experiments are being used in other areas also. Today, the work of formation of 10,000 Farmer
Producer Organizations (FPOs) is going on in full swing in the country. Through these FPOs, small farmers will be able to directly connect with the food processing, value linked export and supply chain. The farmers of Gujarat are also going to benefit a lot from it, he said.
The Prime Minister said measures like increasing ethanol blending in petrol are creating new avenues for the farmers. “Until 2014, less than 400 million litres of ethanol were blended in the country. Today it is reaching around 400 crore litres. Our government has also given Kisan Credit Cards to more than 3 crore farmers by running a special campaign in the last 2 years”, he added.
The Prime Minister said that steps like neem-coating of urea, opening closed fertiliser plants and promoting Nano fertilisers and ensuring urea availability at affordable prices despite global price hike have benefited the farmers of the country and that of Gujarat.
PM being felicitated at the inauguration and foundation laying ceremony of multiple projects at Sabar Dairy, in Gujarat on July 28, 2022.
