Dairy Boost: Assam rolls Rs 5 per liter milk subsidy; CM Himanta Biswa Sarma started planting plant expansion to support rural economy

To give a fresh promotion to the dairy region of Assam, the state government on Sunday introduced a new subsidy scheme to offer 5 per liter of milk to dairy farmers. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the initiative at an event in Guwahati, where he also laid the foundation stone for the expansion of the Punjabari plant of West Assam Milk Producers Cooperative Union Limited (WAMUL), which is sold under the Purbi Dairy brand.Sarma said in a post on X, “To empower our dairy farmers. Today, we formally roll out the subsidy scheme … which will now receive 5/liter subsidy for milk given for processing in cooperative societies.”According to officials cited by news agency PTI, more than 20,000 dairy farmers in Assam are expected to benefit from this subsidy scheme. The state needs this move to strengthen milk supply chains and increase economic opportunities in rural areas.In the same incident, Sarma demonstrated ‘Bhoomi Pujan’ for the expansion of Rs 104 crore of Purbi Dairy Processing Unit. Once the upgrade facility will double its processing capacity from 1.5 lakh liters per day (LLPD) from 3 LLPD. The project is part of an MoU between Vamul and National Dairy Dairy Development Board (NDDB) signed during the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit earlier this year.Saying the expansion “an important step towards a self -sufficient Assam in the dairy region”, Sarma said that it would ensure better market access to farmers and strengthen the state’s nutritional security.NDDB and Vamul president Meenesh Shah said that the growth of the plant would support a broad dairy network, promote milk collection, and reach more consumers in the region.The Punjabri facility is the largest milk processing plant in the North East and plays a central role in the Assam Dairy Development Scheme (ADDP), which aims to process 10 LLPD state-wide process in the formal dairy sector.As part of the expansion, westernized pouches milk production will increase from 1.15 lLPD to 2.0 LLPD. This feature will also add a new ice cream production line of 20 thousand liters (TLPD) per day, which is scalable for 30 TLPD, as well as a total of 70 TLPDs with additional dairy products.