Belagavi district cooperative milk producers union will extend an insurance facility covering the families of all active milk producers in the district, Balachandra Jarkiholi, MLA and union president, said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a meeting of the union in Belagavi, where the union would provide insurance cover of ₹1 lakh for the families of milk-producing farmers. "This amount will be transferred to their next of kin in case of their death. This could cover around 35,000 farmers. The union will have to bear a burden of ₹50 lakh - ₹60 lakh," he said.

The union had made a profit of ₹13 crore last year, of which ₹10 crore worth of equipment was distributed among farmers and ₹2 crore was spent on infrastructure like buildings. The district collects around two lakh litres of milk per day from around 609 societies. The union plans to increase it to around three lakh litres and increase annual transaction to beyond ₹500 crore. Farmers are paid within 10 days of procurement.

"Our goal is to make our union the first in northern Karnataka. Already, we are selling more milk than private dairies. There is increased demand for buffalo milk from consumers not only in the state, but from cities like Mumbai and Pune, and we are trying to meet it,'' he said.

According to him, the union has a storage capacity of 2 to 3 lakh liters, and efforts are being made to increase this to 3 to 5 lakh liters. Suggestions are being sought from NDDB for the construction of the mega dairy. Over 100 franchises and sales centres will be established in the current year. The union opened 33 outlets on the occasion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's birthday.

"The union aims to sell one and a half lakh litres of sachets and 15,000 kg of yogurt, including UHT, in the same period. I have set a goal to make the Belagavi District Milk Union a model in the State in the next three years. I have resolved to stand economically at par with the milk unions in South Karnataka,'' the president said.

Belagavi milk union to insure milk producer families