Mumbai, March 31

The Maharashtra Government on Tuesday decided to procure 10 lakh litres of excess milk every day for supporting the farmers affected by the lockdown. The milk will be procured at the rate of Rs ₹25 per litre. The process of milk collection will commence in the four to five days, a press statement issued by the State Government said.

Due to the outbreak of coronavirus and resultant lock down the milk production and sales have declined, while the milk procurement rate in the private sector has dropped to ₹15- 17 per litre. Therefore, to support the farmers, the procurement will be done by milk cooperatives, which are controlled by the State Government. The milk will be converted to milk powder and sold online, the statement said.

The procurement, which will cost about ₹200 crore to the exchequer, will continue until the time pandemic gets under control. The decision to support the farmers was taken at a meeting, which was held by Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar. It was also was attended by State Revenue Minister, Balasaheb Thorat, Rural Development Minister, Hasan Mushrif and representatives of milk federation and dairy development Institutions.

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