The Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Thursday laid the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art milk processing plant with a capacity of 1.50 lakh litres per day (LLPD) in Dhagwar, Kangra district. He said that the plant’s initial processing capacity of 1.50 LLPD can be expanded to 3 LLPD in the future.

“Once operational, the Dhagwar Milk Processing Plant will significantly strengthen the economy of farmers in Kangra, Mandi, Hamirpur, Chamba, and Una districts, benefiting over 35,000 milk producers. In addition to boosting the incomes of milk producers, the plant will create employment opportunities in milk collection, processing, quality control, and distribution. It will also generate indirect jobs in sectors such as transportation, supply chain management, and maintenance services,” he said.

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The CM said that the entire funding for the construction of this plant was being provided by the state government, which will be completed by February 2026. He mentioned that once the processing plant becomes operational, farmers will receive payments of Rs 40 lakh daily.

Sukhu said that after the increase in milk rates, Milkfed’s daily milk procurement has risen from 1,40,000 litres to 2,10,000 litres.The advanced milk processing plant will process 1.50 lakh litres of milk daily, producing a wide range of dairy products, including curd, lassi, butter, ghee, cheese, flavoured milk, khoya, and mozzarella cheese, he added.

He further said that the capacity of the milk processing plant in Duttnagar, Shimla district, has been increased from 20,000 litres to 70,000 litres per day at Rs. 25.67 crore.

This enhanced capacity is benefiting dairy farmers in Shimla, Kullu, Mandi, and Kinnaur districts, with around 20,000 farmers associated with 271 dairy cooperative societies reaping the rewards, he asserted.
Sukhu said, “Strengthening the rural economy was a top priority of the present state government. To ensure more money reaches the hands of rural people, the Government has increased the minimum support price of cow’s milk from Rs. 32 to Rs. 45 per litre and buffalo’s milk from Rs. 47 to Rs. 55 per litre.”

He said that the state government is making earnest efforts over the past two years to make Himachal Pradesh a self-reliant and one of the most prosperous states in the country.

The CM said that it was for the first time that 4,000 metric tonnes of maize produced through natural farming was purchased at Rs. 30 per kg, and from the next season, wheat will be procured at Rs. 40 per kg.
He also said that the state government has made a historic increase of Rs. 60 in the wages under the MGNREGA scheme, raising daily wages to Rs. 300 for workers