Mysuru:  Karnataka’s fully automated dairy (Mysuru Mega Dairy)  was inaugurated by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy last evening at Alanahalli. The state-of-the-art dairy has a capacity to process nine lakh litres of milk daily.

The CM, who was on a whirlwind tour of Mysuru district launching various development works and events, inaugurated the super-facility after showering flower petals on the bust of  Dr. Verghese Kurien, the ‘Father of the White Revolution’ in India.

Mysuru Mega Dairy is a venture of Mysuru District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Societies’ Union Ltd. The mega dairy had become essential owing to the rise in milk production as the existing dairy at Siddarthanagar lacked space for the addition of new facilities such as deep freezers.

Addressing the gathering, the CM said that the State government will soon decide on granting a financial aid of Rs. 50 crore to Mysuru Milk Union Limited (MyMUL). “MyMUL President has requested a grant of Rs. 50 crore and we will look into the demand soon. This modern facility will be a boon to milk producers in Mysuru and surrounding areas and they will be able to reap profits and at the same time, consumers will get good quality milk products,” he said.

On the automation part at the mega unit, Kumaraswamy said that as the plant is automated end to end and there is little scope for human intervention, consumers can relish quality milk products. “From April 1, the State government will pay Rs. 6 to milk producers. The government started the initiative by paying Rs. 2 incentive and gradually it was hiked to Rs. 4 and Rs. 5 per litre. This government’s budget raised the incentive to Rs. 6 and the money will be doled out from April 1,” he said and added that even the KMF will raise the money by 50 paise.

For the dairy, Rs. 41.66 crore had been contributed by Mysuru Milk Union while Rs. 6 crore and Rs. 80 crore had been raised through Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) and National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

In the second phase, a 30-metric tonne capacity milk powder unit will come up on the premises. The milk powder unit is estimated to cost Rs.59 crore. The mega dairy is equipped to produce 25,000 kgs of butter a day with a deep freezer for storing the produce.

Ministers G.T. Devegowda, S.R. Mahesh, Bandeppa Kashampur; MP R. Dhruvanarayan; MLAs A.H. Vishwanath, K. Mahadev, B. Harshavardhan, Dr. Yathindra Siddharamaiah, M. Ashwin Kumar, Anil Chikkamadu; MLCs Marithibbegowda, K.T. Srikantegowda; Mayor Pushpalatha Jagannath, ZP President B.C. Parimala Shyam, DC Abhiram G. Sankar, President of Mysuru-Chamarajanagar District Co-operative Central Bank G.D. Harish Gowda, MyMUL MD M.S. Vijay Kumar and others were present.