Cabinet nod to expand Milco activities

Rasika SOMARATHNA

Cabinet approval has been granted to expand the activities of Milco (Pvt.) Ltd., to supply liquid milk with long shelf-life to the Sri Lankan consumer and for this, to establish two Ultra Heat Temperature Treated Milk Processing Plants, one in Colombo and other at Polonnaruwa.

These plants will provide facilities to process milk with a shelf-life of 30-40 days (presently only three days), Media and Communications Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said at a meeting to announce Cabinet decisions yesterday.

The estimated cost of the project is Rs 600 million which will be in the form of a loan to be obtained by Milco (Pvt.) Ltd. through its banks, he added.

The Minister announcing the decision noted that as a result of Government efforts to improve this sector, local milk production was on the increase and the authorities expected to exceed 50 percent of the needs by 2015 from the current 22 percent.

He pointed that at present the Government spent Rs. 18 billion on milk powder imports and added that its intention was to divert this huge volume of money to boost local development by achieving self-sufficiency in milk production.