SBI Signed MoU with Milma to Provide Financial Assistance to Dairy Farmers

The State Bank of India (SBI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Milma to fund dairy farmers' working capital needs. The agreement was signed here on Friday by SBI chief general manager (Thiruvananthapuram Circle) Venkata Ramana Bayireddy and Milma managing director Patil Suyog Subhashrao.

The agreement looks into collaboration and partnership opportunities for bank loans for dairy farmers, other dairy-related business activities, enterprises in the state through the Kisan Credit Card programme, other lending schemes of the bank, or governments for the purchase of cattle, animal husbandry, agri infrastructure, and other allied activities.

About Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme:

The Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying, and Fisheries is implementing the Dairy Entrepreneurship Development Scheme (DEDS) to generate self-employment opportunities in the dairy sector, covering activities such as milk production enhancement, procurement, preservation, transportation, processing, and marketing of milk through the provision of back-ended capital subsidies for bankable projects. The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development is in charge of carrying out the scheme.

Financial Institutions:

• Commercial Banks

• Regional Rural and Urban Banks

• State Cooperative Banks

• State Cooperative Agricultural and Rural Development Banks

• Other Institutions, which are eligible for refinancing for NABARD

About Milma

Milma, the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, was founded in 1980 as a cooperative society with its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram. Farmers' memberships have expanded from 45000 when the KLD&MM Board was taken over in 1983 to over 13.51 lakhs through 3366 milk cooperatives by March 2021.

These primary societies are grouped under three Regional Co-operative Milk Producers’ Unions viz TRCMPU for Thiruvananthapuram region, ERCMPU for Ernakulam region and MRCMPU for Malabar region. At the apex level KCMMF functions from the headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram.