Palanpur | Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday inaugurated the Bharat Bovine Breeding and Research Centre (BBBRC), aimed at improving indigenous cattle breeds and enhancing milk production, at Bhildi in Gujarat's Banaskantha district.

The PM, who arrived in the town as part of his two-day visit to the state, took a tour of the centre and interacted with officials to understand the functioning of the facility.

Spread across 127 acres and built at Rs 325 crore, the BBBRC has been established by Banas Dairy with technical guidance from the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and support from the Centre's Rashtriya Gokul Mission, according to an official statement.

Modi was accompanied by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel and Banas Dairy's chairman Shankar Chaudhary, who is also the Speaker of the Gujarat Assembly.

The facility will use advanced breeding techniques, including in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) and embryo transfer, to improve the quality of indigenous cattle breeds and increase milk production. It aims to produce 25,000 high-quality embryos annually, the statement said.

The centre will focus on indigenous cow breeds such as Kankrej, Gir, Sahiwal and Tharparkar, besides buffalo breeds including Mehsani, Banni, Jaffrabadi and Murrah.

The initiative is aimed at helping dairy farmers achieve higher milk yields from fewer animals amid rising cattle maintenance costs and shrinking fodder availability.

The centre will also provide high-quality semen, embryos and breeding services to livestock farmers at affordable rates, the government said.

During his visit, Modi is scheduled to inaugurate and lay the foundation stones for five major development projects of Banas Dairy at Bhildi, it said.