State Fisheries and Animal Resources department has already identified 49 acres of land at Gobardhansole village, about 10 kilometres from the district headquarter, reports New Kerala.

Orissa at present required 6.8 million eggs daily against the production of 2.8 million. The project, official sources said, would bridge the gap of four million eggs daily when poultry estate fully commissioned.

Fisheries and Animal Resources Secretary, Satyabrata Sahu, Mayurbhanj Collector Aswathy and Chief District Veterinary Officer, Nityananda Das visited the estate site earlier this week to talk to the villagers who opted to take up the poultry farming.

The 125 million-rupee (INR) project will be jointly funded by the Government of India (GOI) and the Orissa government.

The Centre has already placed funds to the tune of INR20 million at the Animal Resources Department while the state government has placed INR6.4 million to start the project.

The Centre has appointed the Pune-based Venketeswar Hatchery Group as the facilitator for the mega poultry estate project. The group will help the farmers in providing technical inputs, ensure supply of poultry feeds and also provide a stable marketing support.

Sources said that the banks will provide funds to the tune of INR750,000 as loan to the farmers.

According to New Kerala, 50 per cent of the loan component will be interest-free and this would be one of the major incentives for the farmers opting for poultry farming under this mega project.

Construction sheds and other buildings and roads will be taken up soon and are likely to be completed by the year-end so that the project would start immediately, Mr Sahu told the paper.