CHENNAI: Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday inaugurated eight completed projects for Aavin, carried out at a cost of Rs 80.62 crore. The facilities include a cattle feed manufacturing plant, a silage (fermented fodder) bale production unit, a fortified milk products manufacturing plant, and five microbiological laboratories.
An official note said to meet the demand for quality cattle feed among milk producers and to increase milk production, a cattle feed manufacturing plant with a daily production capacity of 300 MT was established at Pudukudi in Thanjavur district.
The project, funded under the Nabard Rural Infrastructure Development Fund, cost Rs 50 crore. The note added Aavin currently receives 37 lakh litres of milk daily from 3.56 lakh milk producers and sells 31 lakh litres.
To ensure the year-round availability of quality green fodder for livestock, a silage bale production unit with a daily capacity of 25 metric tonnes was set up at Sathyamangalam in Erode district. This project, costing Rs 6.72 crore, was implemented under the Special Area Development Programme.
To enhance Aavin’s sales and meet consumer demand, an ice cream manufacturing unit with a capacity of 6,000 litres per day and a fortified milk products manufacturing unit with a capacity of 10,000 litres per day were established at the Tiruchirappalli District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union at a cost of Rs 21.57 crore.
Additionally, to ensure milk quality, microbiological laboratories were constructed at a cost of Rs 2.33 crore at the cooperative milk producers’ unions in Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Karur, Dharmapuri, and Coimbatore districts.