: Aavin, the State dairy cooperative body, is trying to tap the potential in neighbouring Kerala and Puducherry. Over the past one month, Aavin has started selling about 85,000 litres of liquid milk on a daily basis to Kerala and Puducherry, both milk-deficit.
Kerala gets around 70,000 litres and Puducherry 14,000 litres. Aavin is earning a profit of about Re. 1 to Rs. 1.50 per litre, officials say. The volume of sale is expected to touch the mark of one lakh litres in a few weeks. The optimism is based on the premise that the flush season begins by April-end in southern States.
Besides, the sale ensures that it does not have to convert milk into powder, the process of which costs Rs. 35 to Rs. 40 per kg. It was making a loss of Rs. 15 crore a month six months ago.
Pointing out that Aavin has been able to sell milk even during the current lean phase, officials hope to maintain the sale during April or May, when the local demand will also go up.
At present, Aavin is procuring around 26 lakh litres a day. This is likely to go up to 27.5 lakh litres a day in the coming months.
“Procure more”
Welcoming the latest initiative, K. Mohammed Ali, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers’ Union, however, says the authorities should procure more milk from domestic producers.
Of the net availability of 1.14 crore litres a day, Aavin is buying only about 25 per cent. The volume should go up to at least 50 per cent. In response, Aaavin officials say the National Dairy Development Board has sanctioned a project to modernise three dairy units, which cater for the Chennai region.
