New dairy at Uppur planned at Rs 95 crore cost, DKMUL chief

New dairy at Uppur planned at Rs 95 crore cost, DKMUL chief

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, July 12, 2017; Dakshina Kannada Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd (DKMUL) has posted Rs 5.58 crore net profit during 2016-17. The annual business turnover was Rs 742 crore, said DKMUL president Raviraj Hegde.

Briefing media persons here on Tuesday, he said that the average milk procurement of the union has touched 3.86 lakh litres and has seen 10% progress during the year. Stating that the work on a dairy unit at Uppur in Udupi district has been taken up at a cost of Rs 95 crore, Hegde said that a sum of Rs 2.50 crore has been earmarked for 2017-18 to install an automation undercloud system in Mangaluru dairy unit. To meet the increase in demand for curd, a 1,000-litre pasteuriser will be purchased at a cost of Rs 50 lakh.

He said that the flavoured milk production unit will be expanded. Flavoured milk will be supplied in pet bottles. The required machinery to pack 30,000 pet bottles in two shifts will be installed at a cost of Rs 1.20 crore. A sum of Rs 20 lakh has been earmarked for purchase of curd packing machines and jumbo machines.

Further, Hegde said that a 20KLPH-capacity automatic de-sludge machine will be purchased during the year at a cost of Rs 165 lakh. With an increase in procurement of milk, the processing time too increases. Separating the cream from milk also takes time, he explained.

A new building, ETP and machinery will be installed at the Puttur cold storage unit at a cost of Rs 1.75 crore. A sum of Rs 5 crore has been earmarked for the purchase of land and building at Puttur. The ETP at Mangaluru will also be upgraded, said the president. The DKMUL has a target to sell 3.49 lakh litres of milk, 55,000 kg of curd in the future, he added.

Green cover /Saplings : He said to increase the green cover, the DKMUL will supply 50 to 100 saplings to farmers through milk societies. A total of 35,000 saplings will be supplied during the year.

Also, a total of 63,620 members have been brought under Aam Aadmi Bima Yojana (Janasri insurance). A sum of Rs 28.20 lakh has been paid as compensation to 71 members for accidents and natural death. In addition, scholarships worth Rs 85.47 lakh has been distributed among the meritorious students under Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna.

Compensations : To a query on theft of cattle belonging to the members of the DKMUL, the president said that if the members furnish copies of the FIR, then a minimum compensation of Rs 5,000 would be given to the victim. Normally, the police file ‘missing’ complaints instead of ‘theft’ complaint.

Last year, the compensation was paid in owners of the cattle in around 18 cases. The president said that he had also written to the Dakshina Kannada superintendent and city police commissioner expressing concern over rise in theft of cattle in the district, and urging to initiate action.