New Delhi: India will be providing assistance to Sri Lanka in order to increase its milk output and to improve the overall situation of the cash-strapped country's dairy industry, said the Sri Lankan President's office. President Ranil Wickremesinghe has appointed a committee consisting of the country's public and private sector representatives to work with the multidisciplinary team of the National Dairy Development Board of India to prepare a short, medium and long-term plan to increase local milk production to reduce the country’s dependence on imported milk powder.
To this end, officials of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), operating under the Amul brand name in India, have taken steps to provide the necessary technical support for the production of liquid milk in Sri Lanka, and a preliminary discussion was held in this regard at the Presidential Secretariat under the chairmanship of President’s Secretary Saman Ekanayake.
Plans to double local milk production by implementing short and medium-term plans and making Sri Lanka self-sufficient in milk in the long run through a targeted programme were discussed at the meeting. Additional Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture Dr Nimal Samaranayake, Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board Professor HW Cyril and other committee members and officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and line agencies, Indian National Dairy Development Board Senior General Manager Rajesh Onkarnath Gupta, General Manager Sunil Shivprasad Sinha, Senior Manager Rajesh Kumar Sharma and other representatives were present at the meet.
