A state-of-the-art Amul Dairy costing Rs.1.8 billion that can  process one million litres of milk and produce ice-cream and fermented products was thrown open at Virar here Thursday.

 

 It can double its capacity in the near future, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said after inaugurating the facility.

 

 The dairy, to serve Mumbai and its surroundings, is equipped with a 50,000-litre per hour integrated milk reception, processing, online pasteurisation, standardisation and homogenisation facility.

 

 A centralised computer monitoring system will oversee the traffic management system for operations. The automatic pick-and-place system of milk pouch filling in crates is a global first.

 

 The plant also has the country's largest fully automatic ice-cream production facility – 200,000 litres per day with a wide range of products and flavours.

 

 It has a dedicated facility for fermented milk products, the first in the country, with a capacity to produce and pack 150,000 litres of buttermilk and 50,000 litres curd and other dairy products daily.

 

 Pawar said the central government will allocate Rs.17,000 crore to the dairy and milk production sector over the next 10 years. Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and other top officials were present on the occasion.

 

 –Indo-Asian News Service