Rs 1.5 billion ultra modern factory complex:

Pelwatte milk powder plant opens May 15

To cut down annual milk powder import bill:

Ravi Ladduwahetty

Pelwatte Dairy Industries will commission its state- of-the-art Rs 1.5 billion powdered milk plant in Moneragala, on May 15. The factory which has the most modern machines imported from Denmark has a daily production capacity of 10 tonnes of milk powder while also processing 180,000 litres of liquid milk, PDI Chairman Ariyaseela Wickremanayake told Daily News Business yesterday.

He said efforts are under way to export butter and yoghurt to the Maldives while the focus will be to target supplying 20 percent of the milk powder requirement.

“The trials on the machines for the production of the milk powder are currently going on and this mega facility would be commissioned soon as it is over,” he said.

“The multi-purpose machines will also process liquid milk, both sterilized and pasteurized, in addition to other products such as butter, yoghurt and flavoured ice creams on a larger scale than what is already produced.

The shelf life of the milk products will be six months.

The other dairy products liquid milk such as butter, yoghurt, ice cream are being produced in normal quantities and distributed regionally in areas such as Moneragala and Ratnapura but will be marketed nationally when the powdered milk is commissioned,” he said.

“The factory when in full capacity would be targeting 15 to 20 percent of the national milk production. This venture is also in the national interest where the country would be saving a percentage of the US $ 300 million in foreign exchange that goes towards the import of powdered milk.

The supply of the milk to the factory would be on the out grower basis and the company would be using the supplies of milk from 25,000 farmers and sugar cane suppliers who supply their harvest to the parent company of the group-Pelwatte Sugar Industries. Wickremanayake also implored Sri Lanka’s blue chips to participate in the drive for boosting national milk production aimed at reaching national self sufficiency in milk where the US$ 300 million spent annually for the import of milk powder would be saved.