Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday dedicated to the nation a new dairy hub and potato processing plant at Diyodar in Banaskantha district of Gujarat, built at a cost of around ₹610 crore by Banas Dairy.
Stating that the development initiatives at Banas Dairy will empower farmers and boost the rural economy, the Prime Minister said, “Banas Dairy has created a new economic force in the country. Here, we can experience how a co-operative movement can give strength to our Aatmanirbhar Bharat campaign.”
He also laid the foundation stone for a slew of projects in the district, including a biogas plant and community radio. These projects are expected to empower local farmers and boost the rural economy in the region.
“Today, India is the world’s largest producer of milk. When the livelihood of crores of farmers depends on milk, India produces milk worth ₹8.5 lakh crore annually, something that many people, including big economists, do not pay attention to,” he said in his address after the inauguration.
PM Modi said that the Banas Dairy movement is helping farmers and cattle rearing communities in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Odisha (Somnath to Jagannath), Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.
He said that dairy is emerging as a medium for growth in farmers income compared to traditional food grains, especially where landholdings are small and conditions are tough.
“It is an example of how decentralised economy system works in villages. In comparison (to the dairy sector), the turnover of wheat and rice is not equal to ₹8.5 lakh crore. Small farmers are the biggest beneficiaries of the dairy sector,” PM Modi said.
Referring to direct benefit transfer (DBT) to the accounts of farmers, he said that government benefits are now reaching beneficiaries directly, unlike what it was “by a previous prime minister when only 15 paise of a rupee reached the beneficiary”.
The new dairy complex can process about 30 lakh litres of milk, produce about 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh litres of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk (khoya) and 6 tonnes of chocolates every day.
The potato processing plant will produce different types of processed potato products such as French fries, potato chips, ‘aloo tikki’, patty, etc., many of which will be exported.
PM Modi also inaugurated the Banas Community Radio Station, set up to provide farmers with key scientific information related to agriculture and animal husbandry. It is aimed to connect over 5 lakh farmers in nearly 1,700 villages.
Additionally, the Prime Minister expanded the facilities for the production of cheese products and whey powder at the Banas dairy plant in Palanpur. He also inaaugurated an organic manure and biogas plant in Dama.
The Prime Minister further laid the foundation stones for four ‘gobar gas’ plants of 100 tonnes capacity at Khimana, Ratanpura–Bhildi, Radhanpur and Thawar.
Prime Minister Modi is on a three-day visit to his home state from April 18-20.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will inaugurate the Global AYUSH Investment and Innovation Summit in Gandhinagar before attening the Adijati Maha Sammelan in Dahod, along with inaugurating some more developmental projects.
