Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday laid the foundation stones of 22 development projects that will see an investment of Rs 2,095 crore flowing into Varanasi.

The projects include "Banas Dairy Sankul" spread across a sprawling 30 acres of land which will be built at a cost of about ₹ 475 crore and have a capacity to process five lakh litres of milk per day.

Addressing a massive rally ahead of the UP assembly elections, the Prime Minister said the mega dairy project would be a game-changer for Varanasi and the adjoining districts.

The dairy project would generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs as milk collection and chilling centres would come up all over the region before it was transported to the dairy.

He said he was of the strong belief that the dairy sector has the potential to transform the lives of over 10 crore small farmers in the country as their earnings would shoot up

Taking a swipe at the opposition, he said that they have ignored the dairy sector whereas the BJP’s “double-engine” government has accorded it top priority as raising livestock was an indispensable part of India’s culture and rural economy.

 “The success of the government’s policy is evident from the fact that milk production in India has increased by about 45 per cent in the last six to seven years. Today, India produces about 22 per cent of the world's milk. I am happy that today UP is not only the largest milk producing state in the country, but it's also ahead in the expansion of the dairy sector," PM Modi said.

PM Modi also laid the foundation stone for a biogas-based electricity generation plant for a Milk Producers' Cooperative Union plant in Varanasi's Ramnagar. He said this would make the plant self-sufficient in energy.

Besides, farmers would see an increase in earnings as cow dung from their farms would be purchased at a remunerative price by the biogas plant. The slurry would be used for fertiliser that would be made available to farmers at cheap prices, he explained.  

The Prime Minister said that the “Varanasi model” of development had now taken shape where both the traditional culture and modern enterprise were both moving ahead in tandem.   

He also digitally transferred a bonus of about Rs 35 crore to the bank accounts of more than 1.7 lakh milk producers associated with the Banas Dairy as part of what he called Gujarat’s Amul model that was being implemented in the state. 

PM Modi also launched a portal and a logo dedicated to the Conformity Assessment Scheme of milk products, developed by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) with the help of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

He said consumers face a big problem as far as the quality of milk and milk products are concerned and this new logo which will reflect a sign of good quality would help to solve their problem.

The unified logo, featuring both the BIS logo and the NDDB quality mark, will simplify the certification process for the dairy sector and reassure the public about dairy product quality.

In another effort to resolve the problems regarding home ownership at the grassroots level, the prime minister virtually distributed the rural residential rights record, "Gharauni", under the Swamitva scheme of the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj to over 20 lakh residents of Uttar Pradesh.

He said apart from securing the property of the poor sections, these legal documents would also enable them to raise loans.    

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