PM Narendra Modi to lay foundation of Rs 475 crore Amul dairy plant in Varanasi tomorrow

VARANASI: The countdown for a mega boost to the income of dairy farmers of east UP region will begin with the laying of foundation of an Amul plant by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Karkhiyao area here on Thursday. The Rs 475-crore plant will be named Banas Kashi Sankul.
Also known as Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, Amul is an apex organization of Banas Dairy.
Banas Dairy chairman Shankarbhai Chaudhary on Tuesday said, “With the foundation laying of this plant, which will be third in the state after Lucknow and Kanpur, by the PM in the presence of Governor Anandben Patel and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday, Varanasi will see it becoming operational in 18 months.”
“The plant will begin with a production capacity of five lakh litres per day,” he said adding, “In the second phase, its capacity will be expanded up to 10 lakh litres per day.”
“This plant is being built on 30 acres of land with an estimated cost of Rs 475-crore. The plant will also produce 50,000-litre ice cream, 20-ton paneer, 75,000-liter butter milk, 50-ton curd, 15,000-litre lassi and 10,000-kg Amul sweets per day,” he said, adding, “The plant will also have a bakery unit and will also include a take home ration plant for producing nutritional supplements for women and children.”
Banas Dairy managing director Sangram Chaudhary said, “It is the vision of the PM. He told us that Gujarat has been benefited by Operation Flood Programme that was launched to usher in white revolution in the country, and now do something to benefit Varanasi and the surrounding east UP region. On his call, we planned to establish Banas Kashi Sankul for the production of the full range of Amul products.”
The project will benefit the local farmers of 1,000 neighbouring villages of Varanasi and surrounding districts, including Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur and Azamgarh.
“It will end the problem of price fluctuation for milk producers, getting payment on a weekly basis through direct bank transfer while consumers will also get high quality products at affordable prices. The project is expected to provide direct employment to 750 people in the plant, about 2,350 people in allied areas and about 1,00,000 people in villages,” the chairman added.
He further said, “In the beginning, efforts would also be started for breed upgradation of cattle of this region for improvement in milk production of dairy farmers. In July 2021, Banas Dairy had provided 100 cows of the best indigenous breeds to farmer families in Varanasi for model dairy farming. These farmers were given training in cattle rearing and dairy farm management and arrangements have been made for continuous guidance for animal husbandry. Presently, more than 25,000 litres of milk is procured daily from 111 places in Varanasi.”
“Apart from laying the foundation of this plant, Rs 35.19 crores would be paid to around 1,75,000 milk farmers as a year-end dividend for the year 2020-21 on the occasion by the PM through digital transfer in farmers’ bank accounts,” he added.