Dairy farmers lose as sales drop in Nepal

Tirtha Acharya of Fikkal Bazaar, Ilam has been a dairy farmer for decades. He makes ghee and dog chew from the milk produced on his farm. He also buys milk from other farmers to make his various dairy products. Last March, the government raised the price of milk paid to farmers, and since then, his […]

Arguing against free markets is actually disbelieving freedom itself

I have been hearing the seminal quote by Mahatma Gandhi in Indian context that “Mass Production is production by masses” since I started my career in the dairy industry. It’s almost four decades and even today I find most of the policies are oriented towards protecting the farmers. I am unable to decipher at times […]

Govt launches “Dugdh Sankalan Sathi Mobile App”

Union Minister of Heavy Industries Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey unveiled the ground-breaking “Dugdh Sanakalan Sathi Mobile App” today at Mussorie, Uttarakhand. This innovative application, designed and developed by Rajasthan Electronics & Instruments Limited (REIL), Jaipur, a “Mini Ratna” Central Public Sector Enterprises under the Ministry of Heavy Industries, is poised to make a lasting impact on […]

Centre identifies 1.24 lakh panchayats to set up PACS

The Centre has identified over 1.24 lakh gram panchayats, where there is either no PACS or dairy cooperative or both, where it will accord top priority to facilitate setting up Multi-purpose Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (M-PACS) in the next two years. Out of 2,69,364 gram panchayats in the country, there were 96,405 panchayats where there […]

Amul’s expansion plan is signal for other coop to shape up

Amul, the local and biggest FMCG brand in India, is in an aggressive expansion mode. Its hunger for growth well beyond the home state of Gujarat is both natural and disturbing. For some state cooperatives in the south, and now increasingly in Madhya Pradesh, Amul’s aggressive expansion into their territories has become a source of […]

What’s The Territorial Battle Between The Milk Cooperatives?

row between several dairy brands like Amul, Nandini, Aavin and Milma has been in the spotlight for the last few months. Dairy cooperative brands like these have been at the centre of India’s dairy sector growth for the last several decades. The story of dairy sector in India has been one of success. From a milk deficit […]

Does India have room for a dairy behemoth ?

On an October morning in 1964, Lal Bahadur Shastri, then Prime Minister of India, was engrossed in a conversation. He was looking to clear his doubts after spending the night at a farmer’s house in Anand, Gujarat. Shastri, after he was informed about the stellar performance of a local dairy cooperative, was keen to understand […]

Shah asks NDDB to make India “Dairy to the World”

Appreciating the stellar role being played by NDDB in strengthening the dairy co-op movement in the country, Amit Shah, Union Minister of Home Affairs & Cooperation raised the bar for the NDDB to reach out to all those panchayats and villages where there is no dairy co-op. “NDDB needs to further strengthen cooperative dairying by […]

India Not To Import Butter, Other Dairy Products-Rupala

Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala on Friday made it clear that the country will not import dairy products like butter and the supplies will be improved with the help of huge untapped domestic sector. Rupala’s statement comes even as his ministry’s top official had last week stated that the stocks […]

Milk cooperatives indulged in market distorting tactics

The new controversy in election-bound Karnataka is, surprisingly, around two large and successful dairy cooperatives —Amul (brand owned by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, GCMMF) and Nandini (brand owned by Karnataka Milk Federation, KMF). The debate seems to have been kick-started by two events: a statement in December 2022 that if Amul and Nandini work […]