The Bengal government has taken the task to build a poultry layer farm, the largest in north Bengal, with a daily production capacity of 2.40 lakh eggs in the Cooch Behar district.

Senior officials of the district administration said on Friday that work at the farm is in progress. The initiative has been taken as a part of the government’s decision to make Bengal self-sufficient in egg production.

“In Mekhliganj, construction work of the farm is going on. There will be around three lakh layer birds at the farm and every day, around 2.40 lakh eggs would be produced,” said Pawan Kadyan, the district magistrate.

He was speaking with newspersons on the sidelines of a meeting of the North Bengal MSE Facilitation Council that was held at Lansdowne Hall.

Over the past few months, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has time and again mentioned that the state wants to increase egg production. According to sources, as of now, around 1,203 crores of eggs are produced in Bengal every year, which is around 250 crores less than the demand.

The remaining eggs are brought from Andhra Pradesh.

The project is under the RIDF –XXVII (Rural Infrastructure Development Fund) scheme.