Dairies would be set up at Chengalpattu (2 lakh litres), Namakkal (2 lakh litres), Cuddalore (1 lakh litres), Karur (50,000 litres) and Tiruvannamalai (50,000 litres) at a combined cost of ₹161.77 crore, he said.

Aavin will also process another 6 lakh litres a day at Perambalur at a cost of ₹150 crore. “This plant would serve farmers of the delta districts, and would process the milk into skimmed milk powder, dairy whitener, butter and full fat milk powder,” Mr. Nasar said. Tiruvannamalai, too, would get a plant to pack dairy whitener and ghee in small quantities at a cost of ₹3.50 crore. Currently, TNCMPF has a capacity to process around 40 lakh litres of milk per day.

Sources in Aavin said the above-mentioned districts had become unions under the Federation, but didn’t have the processing capacity. “There is potential to procure more and also market the products, but they don’t have dairies. All these works would commence this year with funding from Nabard,” a source explained.

TNCMPF is also planning to procure 125 bulk milk coolers at a total cost of ₹15 crore, with capacities ranging from 3,000 litres to 5,000 litres each.

Warehousing facilities would be created at Erode and Tiruvannamalai to store products including butter and skimmed milk powder that have a long shelf life, at a total cost of ₹8 crore.