A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between UT Administration, Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) Leh, and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) on August 17 for dairy development and operationalization of the Milk Pasteurisation Plant at Agling, Leh-Ladakh. 

Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, RK Mathur thanked NDDB for their noble initiative to develop the dairy sector in Ladakh. He called it a people’s drive rather than the government’s and stressed the need for the participation and involvement of the local people to make the drive successful.

Terming the process of pasteurizing milk till the delivery of the final product in the market as lengthy, LG Mathur stated that the Animal Husbandry Department has a critical role in making the drive successful. He stated that the milk pasteurization plant would enable the development of entrepreneurship in the dairy sector and generate good income for the local youth. He further stated that it would put Ladakh on track to achieve carbon-neutrality through less utilization of transportation while importing dairy products from other states to Ladakh, especially in the winters. 

LG Mathur highlighted that the initiative would uplift the rural economy and appreciated the role of Hill Councils in developing the dairy sector in Ladakh.

The milk pasteurization plant, with a capacity to pasteurize 2000 litres of milk per hour, would be set up at Agling at a cost of around 3 crores. The milk pasteurization would provide employment opportunities and enable more than 10,000 dairy farmers to generate income. 

Chairman, LAHDC Leh, Advocate Tashi Gyalson stated that the development of the milk pasteurization plant would enable better income generation for the locals but also benefit the Army, which is the largest consumer of milk in Ladakh. He suggested that sustainable methods may be utilized while commercializing the dairy sector in Ladakh and stressed the need to promote the local cattle breed.

MP Ladakh, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal suggested that small milk pasteurization plants may be set up in different sub-division of Ladakh so that the local people can avail its benefits and help in boosting the local economy.

Chairman, NDDB, Meenesh Shah shared about the dairy cooperative model of NDDB and informed the drives taken by them to develop the dairy sector in various states of the country.