Chitwan, Jan 31: Chitwan Milk Industry, located in Bharatpur Metropolitan City-1, Thimura, continues to operate despite a surplus of milk in the market. This morning, a long queue of milk tankers was seen outside the industry as dairy cooperatives and private dairy farms struggled to sell their milk. Since the market couldn’t absorb the excess milk, these tankers brought it to the industry for processing into powdered milk.
According to Raj Kumar Dahal, Central President of the Nepal Dairy Industry Association, without the Chitwan Milk Industry, the milk in these tankers would have had to be discarded into rivers.
In the past, Nepal faced ‘milk holiday’ during peak production season, where farmers were forced to throw away milk due to oversupply. Currently, Nepal produces around 7.5 million liters of milk daily, with about half consumed domestically and the rest used for commercial purposes. Of this commercial milk, 33% is processed by the Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) and other dairy industries, while the remaining is sold directly by local dairy shops.
Between Baisakh and Ashoj , milk production drops by about 40%, while in peak seasons, surplus milk is processed into powdered milk and butter.
Several dairy industries in Nepal, including Chitwan Milk, Sujal (Pokhara), Shivapuri (Bhaktapur), Suryodaya and Sagarmatha (Biratnagar), and Hetauda Dairy (Bagmati Province), process surplus milk into powder. Chitwan Milk is currently the largest processing facility among them.
During the Nepali month of Mangsir and Poush, the industry processed 250,000 liters of milk daily, but since Magh, total production across all industries has dropped to 200,000 liters per day. Chitwan Milk alone processes 80,000 liters daily.
According to Durga Parajuli, the industry’s manager, Chitwan Milk has the capacity to process 100,000 liters per shift, and if operated 24 hours a day, it could handle 200,000 liters daily. However, due to equipment issues, they are currently limited to 80,000 liters per shift.
Farmers across Nepal supply milk to the industry, including 12 cooperative organizations and around 50 private dairies. Since 2075 BS, Chitwan Milk has been charging a processing fee for dairy and cooperative milk, with a rate of Rs 113 per liter of powdered milk and Rs. 55 per kg of butter.
Established in 2064 BS, the industry temporarily shut down due to the earthquake but has since resumed operations. #milk #butter #DDC
