Date:13/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/13/stories/2008101356670100.htm

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Aavin to double capacity

R. Sairam

MADURAI: The production capacity of Madurai Aavin Union will be doubled to 3 lakh litres by January with the commissioning of the ‘ice bank tank.’ Along with the introduction of 23 bulk milk coolers (BMC), the union hopes to achieve a procurement capacity of five lakh litres a day in a year’s time.

“These measures were part of the Rs. 75-crore ‘mega dairy’ project drawn up by Collector S. S. Jawahar, who is also its Special Officer,” K. Thangarajan, General Manager (in-charge) of Madurai Aavin, told The Hindu.

Milk has a temperature of around 30 degree Celsius during milking. Many production centres were situated at places requiring more than five hours of travelling distance from the union. To retain the milk quality during transporting, the BMCs cooled the milk to 4 degree Celsius. They are located in vicinity of the milk production centres. All the 23 BMCs, which put together have a capacity of one lakh litres, have diesel-operated generators in case of power supply disruptions. The union is going to procure five numbers of 15,000 litres-capacity tanker lorries’ at a total cost of Rs. 1 crore. These moves would minimise the loss of milk in transit besides retaining the natural quality, he said. For this project, 75 per cent subsidy had been requested under the ‘Intensive Dairy Development Programme’ of the Central Government, said S. Karthikeyan, Marketing and Milk Procurement Manager.