Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Thakur Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said that digitization of milk procurement will be started in 10 societies on pilot basis. He said it would ensure hassle-free and seamless operations of the milk procurement, which would also go a long way in maintaining transparency.

While presiding over the review meeting of the Animal Husbandry Department here on Tuesday, he said that the present state government is strengthening the rural economy by providing remunerative prices to the milk producers. “Himachal Pradesh is the first state in the country to introduce a minimum support price for milk procurement which is the highest in the country,” he said, adding that cow milk is being procured at Rs. 45 per litre while buffalo milk at Rs. 55 per litre from the farmers.

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He said that to further bolster the rural economy many initiatives would be introduced in the budget 2025-26. The state government is going to spend Rs. 161.52 crore for establishing six new milk chilling plants and milk processing plants in the state, he added.

“State government is also setting up a state-of-art fully automated milk processing plant at Dagwar in Kangra district with 1.50 lakh litres milk capacity per day expandable upto 3 lakh litres per day. This plant would become operational in March, 2026 benefitting the milk producers from Kangra, Una, Hamirpur and other neighbouring districts,” he said, adding that till now 10 percent work on this plant has been completed. He directed to expedite the construction work of all these projects.

The CM directed the officers to ensure quality milk products to the consumers and to conduct a seasonal study on the availability of milk from farmers. He also asked for adopting high-end technology in its operation to maximize the benefits to the farming community. Directing to focus on individual milk testing, real time data management with web and mobile interface, he also instructed to ensure GPS enabled route tracking and optimization for efficient milk transport.

He said that separate marketing of Himachali dairy products must be ensured to provide better prices to the farmers for their hard work. Sukhu said that the money for the milk procurement would be directly transferred to the bank accounts of the beneficiaries and details regarding collection data, quantity, quality and pricing would be notified through SMS.

He also directed the officers to educate milk producers about animal care and evolve a mechanism to support the farmers. The CM said, “The state government is also promoting natural farming in a big way and cattle rearing is instrumental in this farming practices. These two activities are co-related and cattle rearing will also ensure reduction in chemical farming.”