The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) is expanding its footprint in Eastern and North-Eastern States in the country. By taking dairy development activities in some of the most backward areas of these regions together with local partners, it said in a statement on Thursday.

Recently, the Jharkhand government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between NDDB and Jharkhand Milk Federation (JMF) till March 2024.

JMF has four dairy plants (Ranchi, Deoghar, Koderma and Latehar) with total installed capacity of 140 TLPD. And one 50 MTPD cattle feed plant at Hotwar, Ranchi. The government of Jharkhand has requested NDDB for construction, establishment and management of three new dairy plants. Which are being done on priority by NDDB on turn-key basis, the statement said.

Similarly, NDDB has been able to turn the West Assam Cooperative Milk Union (Wamul) in Assam, which was on the verge of closing down in 2008 into a viable entity and today Wamul’s Purabi is a prominent dairy brand in Assam.

Technical support

NDDB is also providing technical and manpower support for milk procurement, processing, marketing and training and capacity-building activities. NDDB-managed Wamul has been recording continuous growth in the milk procurement and marketing indices, said NDDB.

NDDB has been conducting benchmark surveys in Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura at the request of cooperative milk producers’ unions and has prepared reports for estimating milk production potential in these States. NDDB also had preliminary discussions with Sikkim Milk Union for the latter’s future development.

Source : The Hindu businessline