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TIRUPATI: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has fulfilled a promise he made during his last pre-poll padayatra by setting the foundation stone for revival of the long-defunct Chittoor Cooperative Dairy here on Tuesday.
This marks a significant milestone in the region's dairy industry, on which a large number of farmers are dependent.
The Chief Minister handed over the management of the Chittoor dairy to Amul group, which earlier entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the state government for the revival and restoration of the defunct dairy.
Under this collaboration, Amul would invest Rs 385 crore in the venture that would generate 5,000 new jobs and benefit 2 lakh people indirectly.
The Chief Minister made the announcement at a public meeting held on the police parade grounds in Chittoor after performing the bhumi puja. He said the government has cleared the Chittoor dairy's debts of Rs 182 crore, and signed the MoU with Amul to breathe new life into the dairy industry in the region.
"The Amul group will set up a state-of-the-art ice cream manufacturing facility with an investment of Rs 150 crore, making it the largest facility of its kind in the country. Within the next 10 months, the company aims to process 1 lakh litres of milk daily, with plans to also set up units for producing paneer, yogurt, cheese, butter, as also start a milk powder factory in subsequent phases," he said.
The Chief Minister highlighted the government's commitment to reviving the dairy sector in the state through its partnership with Amul. He referred to the success of the Jagananna Pala Velluva scheme, launched on December 20, 2020, which helped in the collection of over 8.78 crore litres of milk within two years.
"The scheme ensures timely payments to dairy farmers every 10 days, effectively raising the price of cow milk from Rs 32 per litre to Rs 89.76 per litre," the CM said.
Recounting the glorious days of Chittoor Dairy, Jagan Mohan Reddy referred to its sudden closure on August 31, 2002, when TD leader Chandrababu Naidu was chief minister of united AP. He blamed Naidu for the downfall of the Chittoor Dairy and accused him of conspiring against it to benefit his family-owned private dairy plant, Heritage, which was established in 1992.
The Chief Minister pledged to make up for the losses suffered by the Chittoor Dairy and restore its former glory as a leading cooperative entity in the country.
Meanwhile, during his visit to Chittoor, the Chief Minister performed the bhumi puja for construction of the CMC medical College and Hospital at Cheerlapalli on the outskirts of Chittoor. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the medical college and hospital project had been a long-standing dream of his father and former CM, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
"Now, after 14 years of negligence by successive governments, the construction of the medical college and hospital is finally becoming a reality," he added.
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