Mangaluru : Dakshina Kannada Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union (DKMUL) president Raviraj Hegde said that the DKMUL had appealed to Cooperation Minister S T Somashekar to sanction milk powder manufacturing unit to the Union.

“The minister has responded positively,” he told mediapersons. The minister visited the DKMUL office and interacted with the officials and directors on Sunday.

The DKMUL receives five lakh litres of milk, of which 80,000 litres are converted into powder. To convert milk into powder, the Union sends the milk to Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. As a result, it has to spend Rs 10 per litre for producing the powder. If the unit is set up in Mangaluru, then it will reduce the cost of expenditure.

“Hence, we had appealed to the Minister to set up the milk powder manufacturing unit,” Hegde.

The DKMUL has stock of milk powder and butter worth Rs 25 crore. As the schools are yet to reopen, the Ksheera Bhagya scheme could not be implemented. Without Ksheera Bhagya, the Union is facing the threat of loss.

“Hence, we have asked the minister to include milk powder and butter in the ration items, to be distributed to the students,” he added.

Hegde said that 10 to 12 acres of land of Mangaluru Dairy had been leased from the government. Former minister late V S Acharya had submitted a proposal to district administration to sanction the land to the DKMUL. After his death, the proposal remained in cold storage. The President appealed to the Minister to sanction the land to the DKMUL. The Minister promised to get it approved in the Cabinet if the proposal was sent again.