Amit Shah unveils foundation for world's largest curd plant in West Bengal
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday virtually laid the foundation stone for what is described as the world's largest curd production plant, part of the Rs 700-crore Amul Bengal Dairy Project. The plant, located at Howrah Food Park in Sankrail, will have a daily capacity to process up to 30 lakh litres of milk and 10 lakh litres of curd.
Speaking at the event in Kolkata, Shah stated that the project would benefit around 1.2 lakh small dairy farmers and cattle rearers in the state. He noted that the political change in West Bengal had facilitated the initiative, which was stalled under the previous government. Shah said that when he had previously requested land for the project from the then chief minister, he was told that Gujarat-based Amul would not be allowed to enter the state.
The Home Minister praised the current state government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari for providing land free of cost to the Amul Federation. He said the project was not for Gujarat but for the livestock farmers of West Bengal.
Shah also laid foundation stones for 14 storage warehouses across nine districts, with a total storage capacity of 1,400 metric tonnes, at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore.
Earlier in the day, Shah held a high-level review meeting on the law-and-order situation in the state, attended by Chief Minister Adhikari and senior police and administrative officials. According to sources, Shah directed all border police stations to coordinate with the Border Security Force (BSF) and emphasised the need to establish an anti-narcotics task force, an anti-terrorist squad, and a special investigation agency modelled after the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to strengthen internal security along the 2,217-km border with Bangladesh.
Later, Shah visited the National Library campus in Alipore to inaugurate the Museum of Word (Shabdalok), described as India's first immersive language museum. Developed by the National Library under the Union Culture Ministry, the museum showcases India's 22 official languages and their evolution from oral traditions to digital texts.
