Patna, Jan. 12: This Makar Sankranti, residents of the state capital need not worry about scarcity of milk and curd. Patna Dairy Project, which sells its products under the brand name Sudha, has made adequate arrangements to meet the demand during the festival, slated for Saturday.

“The festival is celebrated by a large number of people in the state. The demand for dairy products surge as people place orders in bulk. To handle the situation, we have made adequate arrangements,” Sudhir Kumar Singh, the managing director of Patna Dairy Project, told The Telegraph.

Sudhir said: “For the convenience of the residents, we are making curd available in packets of different sizes, including 200gm, 400gm, 500gm, 1kg, 5kg and 16kg. But milk will be available in the same one-and-a-half litre packets. We will also keep a tab on the supply of the dairy products.”

The Patna Dairy Project has also arranged for milk tankers having capacity of 20,000l from 7am to 10am, which will be placed at all the prominent booths of Sudha diaries. Some important booths are Rajbanshi Nagar (near Hanuman temple), Sabzibagh (near Pirbhore police station), Kadamkuan, Kankerbagh, Pirmuhani (near Uma theatre) and Boring Road roundabout.

Sources said this has been done to ensure supply of milk to the booths if there is a shortage.

“Compared to last year, more curd and milk will be sold this time. This year, we expect to sell around 25 lakh litres of milk and 70,000kg of curd. There is a huge demand for curd in the capital, as people prefer to purchase readymade curd, which is of very good quality compared to ones available in the market. Moreover, people nowadays want to keep off the curd-making process, which is a tedious job,” said Niranjan Kumar, the marketing manager of Patna Dairy Project.

Last year, 15 lakh litres of milk and 25,000kg of curd were sold during the festival. The average demand of milk on a daily basis in Patna is 1.7 lakh litres and that of curd is 1,000kg.

The booth operators are also prepared for the D-day.

At a Sudha dairy outlet on Boring Road, Mohan Kumar, an employee, said: “On an average, we sell around 400 to 500litres of milk every day. Since yesterday, it has gone up to 1,000 litres. I will ensure not a single customer returns empty-handed from our outlet.”

He added: “During the festive season, we are in constant touch with the milk suppliers. We sometimes directly contact the suppliers to ensure we do not run out of stock.”

Rajni Kumari, a resident of Anand Puri, said: “Milk and curd are the most important components of Makar Sankranti. It is winter and it takes time to prepare curd, so I am buying milk in advance. The curd available in the market is also good but the home-made curd is something special.”