Nath: At odds

New Delhi, Sept. 24: The war between the commerce and agriculture ministries over the ban on milk powder exports has reached a new high with commerce minister Kamal Nath coming out in favour of lifting the bar.

Nath, in a letter to a Congress MP, has said: “The department of commerce has been opposing all moves to ban exports. Even when the proposal was discussed at various levels, the department had objected to it.”

However, the agriculture ministry, which had earlier promised to lift the ban by end-September, is yet to take any decision. It feels the ban has helped to keep milk prices in check.

B.M. Vyas, MD of the Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation (which owns Amul), said: “Milk procurement is very good this year. If we are not allowed to export, prices of skimmed milk will fall, affecting the dairy farmer.”

The dairy farmer is at the base of the pyramid. If the price of milk falls, he/she will be affected, which in turn can impact future production, said Vyas.

Amul, along with 17 milk federations from states such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Bengal, met Charusheela Sohoni, secretary of the department of animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries and officials of the ministry of agriculture today to discuss the ban on skimmed milk export. However, a decision is yet to be taken, sources said.

Bengal is the only state that supports the ban. G. Namchu, MD of West Bengal Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation Ltd, said, “A couple of years ago we were buying the powder at Rs 90 per kg. Now it has gone up to Rs 130 per kg. We would like to buy it at the lowest cost.” However, he added that Bengal was open to the idea of exports in limited quantities.

S.K. Chandra, chairman of Mother Dairy, Calcutta, added, “Bengal is a milk deficient state. Skimmed milk powder is a major input for the milk we produce. If its price goes up, our costs will go by 25 per cent.”