CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Minister for Milk and Dairy Development, RS Rajakannappan on Wednesday thanked the Dravidian Model government’s initiatives to boost the rural economy, claiming that Tamil Nadu has achieved a significant milestone in milk production.

In a statement, Rajakannappan said Tamil Nadu is reaching new heights in milk production every year, unprecedented in history.

The state’s milk production has been consistently increasing, with a notable rise from 7.742 million tonnes in 2017 to 10.317 million tonnes in 2023, he said.The Minister said Tamil Nadu’s milk production, which was 7.742, 8.362, 8.759 million tonnes from 2017 to 2020, has increased to 9.790, 10.107, 10.317 million tonnes in 2021-2023, respectively.

“The per capita availability of milk was 316 grams per day in 2019-2020. It has increased to 369 grams in 2022-23. This has been possible due to the Dravidian Model government’s schemes to boost the rural economy. In 2022-23, Rs 27.60 lakh have been provided to the employees of district cooperative milk producers unions and Rs 12.58 lakh to the employees of the network as production-linked incentives,” he said.