For the first time in its history, the Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) has reported profits over two consecutive years, after registering it’s first-ever surplus in 2012-13.
Started in 1959 with the aim of supplying milk at reasonable rates and giving dairy farmers a lucrative price, the DMS had remained in the red till 2012-13, when it made a modest profit of Rs.5.31 crore.
After that, however, its fortunes fell again, with a loss of Rs.15.87 crore in 2013-14.
But, according to official figures audited by the Comptroller and Auditor-General, the DMS bounced back and recorded a profit of Rs. 6.65 crore in 2014-15.
Making history, the DMS reported a profit of Rs. 55.30 crore in 2015-16 – its largest ever surplus and the first consecutive year of profits.
In 2015-16, the profit amounted to almost 15 per cent of the expenditure of Rs.372.35 crore.
The DMS, which works under the Union Agriculture Ministry’s Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, had never made profits for two consecutive years in its 57-year history.
While the organisation has made staff cuts — reducing the number of sanctioned posts from 1,544 in 2010 to 1,048 in 2015 — officials say the turnaround was made possible by better milk sourcing policies.
General manager of the DMS Dr. Balbir Singh Beniwal said that prior to 2013, the rates at which the organisation bought milk from suppliers was not decided by the organisation.
“Our rates had been fixed by Mother Dairy. When we were given the power to decide our own rates, we managed to get more competitive prices. Since milk costs account for 80 per cent of our expenditure, bringing it down helped us make a profit,” said Dr. Beniwal.
He added that the DMS, which sells about three lakh litres of milk a day through 502 booths, reduced its power bill by ensuring proper maintenance of machinery and better monitoring of plants.
Savings in water consumption, installation of solar water heaters and rainwater harvesting helped in reducing overall costs too.
Privatisation proposal
The DMS’ historic profits come at a time that the government is mulling privatising it. While the last few years may have brought good news, the DMS still has a cumulative loss of Rs. 842 crore, as of 2014-15.
The government had agreed in-principle to privatise the DMS several years ago, but the proposal has not been cleared so far.
