Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah inaugurated the newly constructed Bio-CNG and Fertilizer Plant built by Banas Dairy in Vav-Tharad district of Gujarat and laid the foundation stone for a 150-ton powder plant. Shri Amit Shah said that the journey started by Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel, who founded Banas Dairy in Banaskantha, has gradually grown to such an extent that today the dairy has a turnover of up to Rs 24,000 crore. He said that wherever he goes across the country, he proudly declares that the task of making Gujarat’s villages prosperous has been accomplished by the mothers and sisters of state. The farmers of this region, especially the pioneers of the cooperative movement, the chairmen of village-level milk societies, and the directors of Banas Dairy may not even realize what a massive miracle they have achieved.
Union Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ensured the availability of water in the regions of Gujarat where it was scarce by diverting surplus water from areas where it was abundant. He said that under the Sujalam-Sufalam Scheme, excess water from the Narmada and Mahi rivers was brought to Banaskantha. Earlier, farmers here had to work as labourers on others’ fields. Today, the same farmer has turned his land into paradise and made the entire Banaskantha prosperous.
Shri Amit Shah said that it has never been our tradition or habit to fully document or write the history of any great achievement we accomplish. Shri Shah said that he has assigned two universities the responsibility of preparing a detailed, well-documented research of the water conservation efforts in Banaskantha and Mehsana, the prosperity brought by water, and the transformation that has come into people’s lives as a result. He said that the hard work of Banaskantha will be written in golden letters and will emerge as a source of inspiration in the entire history of rural development across the country.
Union Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said that today several new initiatives have been launched here, including the inauguration of the Bio-CNG plant and milk powder plant, as well as the dedication of a state-of-the-art protein plant and a high-tech automated paneer plant. He said, the tradition of establishing a Bio-CNG plant started by Banas Dairy will become a model for cooperative societies across the country. He said that the innovative experiments Banas Dairy has conducted in the circular economy will be showcased to the Members of Parliament who are part of the consultative committee. He added that until now, under Amul’s leadership, Gujarat’s dairies have been collecting milk, processing it into products, selling them, and directly transferring the profits into the bank accounts of sisters and farmers in this, we have been ahead of the entire world. But now the time has come to transform the dairy sector completely into a circular economy.
Shri Shah emphasized that not even a single gram of cow or buffalo dung should go to waste it should be converted into organic manure, bio-gas, and electricity, and the income generated from it should also go back to the farmer. He said that there are many high-value dairy products in the world that are not yet being manufactured in India. He announced that he is handing over a complete list of such products to the Chairman of Amul today itself so that their production can begin immediately. These products command very high prices and have huge demand in the global market. If, instead of only producing curd, ghee and paneer, we focus on these high-value products, our farmer brothers and sisters will earn many times more profit.
Shri Amit Shah said that now, along with dairy, we must start producing biogas and bio-CNG. He further said that from now on, cooperative dairies across India will no longer purchase animal feed from the open market; it will also be produced at the cooperative level, and the profit earned from manufacturing animal feed will go directly into the bank accounts of our sisters. He assured that the entire ecosystem required for this, including technology and financing, has already been put in place by the Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah said that for the benefit of farmers, the Government of India has formed three new national-level cooperatives: one for seed production and distribution, one for marketing of organic products, and one for agricultural exports. At the same time, three national-level multi-state cooperatives have been created specifically for the dairy sector. He said that these six cooperative institutions together will now cover every aspect of agriculture and animal husbandry whether it is making cheese, protein, dairy whitener, khoya, ice-cream, baby food; packaging edible oil, producing flour, honey, running cold storages, potato chips, seed production, or manufacturing animal feed all these activities will come under the dairy economy, and the entire profit will reach directly into the accounts of the livestock farmers. This is the clear and firm plan of the Government of India.
