Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Minister for Education P. Sabitha Indra Reddy and Chairman of Dairy Development Cooperative Federation L. Bhuma Reddy laid foundation stone for the construction of a mega dairy project with ₹246 crore on 32 acres land at Raviryala village of Maheshwaram mandal in Rangareddy district on Friday.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Srinivas Yadav said the State government is helping dairy farmers for bringing another white revolution in Telangana and helping the farming community improve their income from dairy farming.
He stated that Vijaya Dairy was facing closure due to huge losses before formation of Telangana as the procurement of milk was just one-lakh litres a day.
However, the proactive steps taken by the government had helped it improve turnover from ₹300 crore in 2014-15 to ₹750 crore in 2020-21 with the procurement of milk going up to 4.5 lakh litres a day with 2.13 lakh farmers in the cooperative unions.
On the mega project at Raviryala, the minister said it would be completed in two years and it would have the capacity to process about 8 lakh litres. Stating that there were 28 Vijaya Dairy products, he said they have good demand in Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai and Delhi, besides in Telangana.
The minister stated that they are encouraging small and marginal farmers to take up dairy farming as additional income generation activity on one hand and making young entrepreneurs to take up dairy farming on commercial basis. Unlike the private dairy, Vijaya Dairy is procuring milk 365 days a year by giving incentive on supply of milk to it and also giving milch animals on subsidy.
Stating that there are 200 Vijaya Dairy outlets in the State, Mr. Srinivas Yadav said they have plans to increase the number to 600. Minister Ms. Sabitha Indra Reddy explained various other animal husbandry and dairy development schemes being implemented by the State government, including supply of sheep units on subsidy, fisheries and others.
Legislators Y. Mallesham, S. Vani Devi, G. Jaipal Yadav, M. Anjaiah Yadav, Zilla Parishad Chairperson T. Anitha Reddy, Secretary (Animal Husbandry) Anita Rajendra, District Collector Amoy Kumar, Managing Director of TSDDCF Srinivasa Rao and others participated.
