Foreign Trade Policy 2023: EPCG obligation to for dairy exempted

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Shri Piyush Goyal today launched the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 saying that it is dynamic and has been kept open ended to accommodate the emerging needs of the time. He stated that the policy had been under discussion for a long…
FSSAI revises order on curd labelling, allows use of regional names

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), on Thursday, revised its order allowing the use of regional common names on labels of curd packets amidst a row in Tamil Nadu over the Hindi term “Dahi”. In a statement on Thursday, FSSAI said that food business operators food can use the term “curd” along…
Bill to regulate milk procurement passed in AP Assembly

The Assembly on Monday passed a Bill to regulate the transactions at the milk procurement centres, enforce safety standards for the produce and protect interests of dairy farmers and the consumers. Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Seediri Appalaraju moved the Bill titled A.P. Milk Procurement (Protection of Farmers) and Enforcement of Safety…
Supply of ice cream from the outlets is not restaurant services

The Gujarat Authority for Advance Ruling (AAR) in the case of M/s HRPL Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. Vide Advance Ruling No. GUJ/GAAR/R/2023/08 dated 22.02.2023 Ltd. has ruled that the supply of ice cream from the outlets cannot be classified as the supply of ‘restaurant services’, leviable to GST 18%. In this case, the applicant is engaged in the restaurant business…
Budget could have paid more attention to fodder

Budget 2023-24 has given a boost to the animal husbandry sector. The overall budget for animal husbandry has increased by around 40 per cent (over the 2022-23 Budget Estimate) for its outstanding contribution to the nation’s socio-economic development, particularly during to the recent pandemic shock. A significant part of the total allocation went to the…
Eying To Cash In The Booming Organic Market Via Cooperatives

With estimated global organic food market to be around Rs 10 lakh crore where India’s share is paltry 2.7 per cent, the Government is eying to harness the unlimited opportunities on the platter to boost income of farmers for which it has set up a national level cooperative society for organic products. The first-of-its-kind initiative…
Milk and milk products have an average weightage of 6.61 % in CPI

After moderating in the previous three months, inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for January surpassed the upper threshold of the Reserve Bank of India’s tolerance band. The increase in retail inflation from 5.7 per cent in December to 6.5 per cent in January was largely driven by food prices, particularly cereals. Inflation in cereals…
Do away with different rate of GST on SMP, ghee: Chandramogan

R.G. Chandramogan, Chairman, Hatsun Agro Products, has urged the government to do way with the practice of charging different rates of GST on milk fats and skimmed milk powder (SMP), both of which are milk products. Milk is separated into two parts – SMP (skimmed milk powder) and milk fat. While milk fat is taxed…
White Revolution of India—Myths and Reality

India is widely mentioned as the top milk producer in world and this achievement is frequently stated to have been achieved on the basis of its ‘white revolution’ which in turn is claimed to have been achieved on the basis of improved livelihoods of small dairy farmers. How real are these claims? This is not…
Livestock sector Catching Up in Recent Years

The allied sectors of Indian agriculture – livestock, forestry & logging and fishing & aquaculture are gradually becoming sectors of buoyant growth and a potential source of better farm incomes. The livestock sector grew at a CAGR of 7.9 per cent during 2014-15 to 2020- 21 (at constant prices), and its contribution to total agriculture…