Friday, Nov 15, 2002
Friday, Nov 15, 2002 |
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Karnataka
By Our Staff Correspondent
The joint demand by the Mysore-Chamarajanagar Milk Federation and the Mandya Milk Federation comes in the wake of the approval given by the State Government to an Andhra Pradesh-based company to set up a dairy at Induvalu. The company has obtained single-window clearance. The dairy will have a capacity to process one lakh litres of milk a day. The federations feel that the dairy will pose problems for their units, which collect 4.3 lakh litres of milk a day. While the production of milk is increasing, the demand has stagnated. Owing to this, many milk unions are now producing skimmed milk. According to the officials, private milk producers are creating unhealthy competition by supplying low-quality milk at a cheaper price, thus affecting the fortunes of the unions that are selling milk under the Nandini brand name. At a meeting here on Wednesday, the representatives of the federations alleged that the private players were purchasing milk from other areas and using harmful preservatives to increase its shelf life. The meeting decided to urge the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, to cancel the license issued to the company. It is learnt that the company has a dairy at Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, which led to the closure of the cooperative milk unions and the milk society there. Though the entry of private milk producers in the State had not caused huge losses to the cooperative unions, it had affected their fortunes. The milk industry in Karnataka is believed to be worth around Rs. 1,500 crore. Experts estimate that nearly 700 small and medium dairy units have entered the milk-processing sector in the country which is regulated and controlled. More than half the estimated Rs. 5,000 crore investment in the industry is by private players. An official of a federation told The Hindu that it was the size of the industry that was attracting investments from the private sector. This was leading to an unhealthy trend. The cooperative unions already had a strong network. Though the milk supplied by them was substandard, the private milk producers were luring the agents through dubious means. There were more than 20 brands competing with Nandini in the State. There were nine brands in Mysore, and some of them faked the name of Nandini. Though a majority of the brands was seasonal, a few were active throughout the year, he added. It is alleged that the private milk dairies, apart from misinforming consumers, are also trying to woo the agents of the Nandini brand to penetrate the established market of the unions. The officials pointed out that private dairies were procuring milk at cheaper rates in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and marketing it here. Airing apprehensions over the quality of milk supplied by these dairies, they said harmful preservatives were being added to milk. The Nandini milk produced by the cooperative unions conformed to the specifications set by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
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