INR 4,558 crore scheme for dairy farming

The union cabinet has approved an INR 4,558 crore scheme to promote the dairy sector. The scheme will benefit about 95 lakh farmers in about 50,000 villages. It also gave green signal to the proposal to increase interest subvention from 2% to 2.5% under the scheme Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) with the revised outlay of INR 11,184 crore.

Further, under DIDF, 28,000 bulk milk coolers will be established with 140 lakh litres per day as additional milk chilling capacity. Milk drying capacity will also be enhanced to 210 metric tonne per day and 28,000 milk testing equipment will be provided to check adulteration in milk. A proposal to create infrastructure of 59.78 lakh litres per day capacity for value-added dairy products to ensure remunerative prices to milk producers was also approved by the Cabinet. Another good news for the sector is that the central government will provide interest subvention up to 2.5 per cent to NABARD from 2019-20 (with effect from 30 July, 2019) to 2030-31.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Wednesday that this scheme will take the “White revolution” to the next level.