PM Modi inaugurates new dairy complex, potato processing plant in Gujarat

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugurated the new dairy complex and a potato processing plant at Diyodhar in Gujarat’s Banaskantha district, built at a cost of more than Rs 600 crore.

According to a PMO release, the new dairy complex is a Greenfield project and will enable processing of approximately 30 lakh litres of milk, produce around 80 tonnes of butter, one lakh litres of ice cream, 20 tonnes of condensed milk or khoya and 6 tonnes of chocolate on a daily basis.

While inaugurating, PM Modi said that while the expansion of activity at the dairy is extremely vital for the dairy sector, the project has also proven that other resources can be used for increasing the income of local farmers.

He also said that milk production of 8.5 lakh crore rupees, dairy is emerging as a bigger medium of farmers income than traditional foodgrains, especially where landholdings are small and conditions are tough, according to the release.

Besides, potato processing can produce various types of processed potato plants like French fries, potato chips, aloo tikki, patties and others, most of which will be exported. The Prime Minister said that potato, honey and other related products are changing the destiny of the farmers.

The Prime Minister also praised the dairy’s projects in Gobardhan and appreciated the projects for aiding the government in its efforts to create wealth from waste by establishing such plants all over India. He said these plants will “benefit by maintaining cleanliness in villages, giving income to farmers for gobar, producing electricity and protecting earth by the nature manure.”

Prior to his Banaskantha visit, the Prime Minister shared throwback images of his visits to the district back in 2013 and 2016. He said, “I am delighted to be visiting Banas Dairy yet again. I had last visited the Dairy in 2016. That time a series of products of the Dairy were launched. I had also visited the Diary in 2013. Here are glimpses from both programmes.”

Later in the day, he will lay the foundation stone of the WHO Global Centre for Traditional Medicine (GCTM) in Jamnagar.