Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 23 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh government has decided to lease out six dairy plants of the state for a period of ten years to ensure fair prices to milk producers of Uttar Pradesh and availability of quality milk to the people, an official release from the govt said on Wednesday. 

According to officials, among the 6 dairy plants chosen for leasing by the UP government, some plants are completely shut down, while others are not operating at their full capacity. 

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With this decision by the state government, the strengthening of the PCDF will take place, benefiting the Dairy Federation, semi-government milk processing and marketing institutions, and dairy cooperatives.

The state government has decided to give Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Noida, Prayagraj, Azamgarh and Moradabad dairy plants on lease. While these plants are being leased, their ownership will remain with the PCDF and milk unions.

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The lease will only be for their management and operation. The leasing firm will not be able to tamper with the basic structure of the plant.

Currently, the annual turnover for the Gorakhpur plant is 110 crore, Kanpur's is 325 crore, Noida's is 438 crore, Prayagraj's is 65 crore, Azamgarh's is 11 crore, and Moradabad's is 110 crore.

According to the Request for Proposal (RFP), the minimum milk handling capacity of the applying firms is mandatory to be 50 per cent of the capacity of the plants given on lease. While the annual lease rent will remain the same in the first three years, from the fourth year, the lease rent will be increased by 5.50 per cent from the normal.

Notably, the present annual lease rent of Gorakhpur is 4.38 crore, Kanupar 13.56 crore, Noida 17.89 crore, Prayagraj 2.63 crore, Azamgarh 44 lakh and Moradabad 4.38 crore. In such a situation, the department will get a total amount of Rs 43.28 crore as reserve annual lease rent.

For leasing these plants, Banas Dairy Gujarat, Sabar Dairy Gujarat, Mother Dairy New Delhi, and COMFED Sudha Dairy Bihar have shown interest. Based on the condition of the dairy plants, they will be leased accordingly as per the cabinet decision. The firms leasing the plants will first have to procure milk from the regional cooperative milk unions. Additionally, the milk unions associated with these dairy plants will not be dissolved and will continue their regular operations.

Before leasing out these plants, the department will clear their debts. PCDF employees working in these dairies will be accommodated in other milk unions and PCDF units. The plant will have to be operational after completing the lease process within 84 days from the date of publication of the RFP. On the other hand, if the operation of the plant is terminated by the leasing firm in less than one year, then the security money will be forfeited. (ANI)

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