With 17% share, Uttar Pradesh still India’s top milk producer

Pankaj Shah

LUCKNOW: Accounting for 17% share in India’s total production, Uttar Pradesh continues to be the largest milk producing state of the country. Rajasthan, with 11.5% share and Andhra Pradesh, with 9% share, are at number two and three respectively.
The production of milk in UP rose from 277 lakh metric tonnes in 2016-17 to 318 lakh metric tonnes in 2019-20, indicating an increase of 41 lakh during the period.

According to statistics put out by the state government, UP has produced 1,242 lakh metric tonnes of milk in the past four years. A state government spokesperson said that six big companies, including Amul, have set up their dairy plants in UP at a cost of Rs 172 crore in the past four years while work is underway on establishing seven others. Besides, 15 investors have offered to set up their units in the state.

“Investments in the dairy sector have also created massive employment opportunities in rural areas of the state,” he said. To promote milk production in the state, the state government has worked to save cows, besides setting up greenfield dairies in Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi, Meerut, Bareilly, Kannauj, Gorakhpur, Firozabad, Ayodhya and Moradabad. Besides, four old dairies at Jhansi, Noida, Aligarh and Prayagraj are being upgraded, the spokesperson said.

He added that the state government has sanctioned Rs 272 crore for the establishment of cow protection centres in all districts. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the protection and maintenance of destitute and abandoned bovine.

The UP government is also constructing cow protection centres and a ‘Govansh Vanya Vihar’ to enhance milk production in the state. The construction of 118 such centres has already been completed.