Amid spike in milk prices, Congress accuses Modi govt

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed on Friday that India is on the brink of a milk crisis and accused the Narendra Modi-led central government of pitting one cooperative against the other for electoral benefits.

He cited a media report on Twitter that claimed that 50 years since the "White Revolution", the world's largest milk-producing nation has been forced to import milk and milk products from other countries.

Taking to Twitter, Jairam Ramesh wrote that India is on the brink of a milk crisis which is resulting in high levels of inflation and causing further pain to dairy farmers, who are already struggling with rising prices of fodder.

"As a result of this crisis which has lingered since the Covid pandemic, the largest milk producer in world is now forced to import milk and milk products from other countries," he said.

"What is the Modi government doing in the midst of this crisis? Pitting one cooperative against the other in an attempt to benefit their electoral outcomes," the former union minister alleged.

Mother Dairy and Amul have hiked milk prices multiple times in the last year. The price hikes were induced by higher fodder costs, robust demand, and some impact due to reports of lumpy skin.

The dairy industry has expressed concern over low milk procurement and said the prevailing situation of fodder shortage and other factors have forced raw milk prices to remain high.

A few months ago, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) hiked the prices of Amul pouch milk by Rs 3 per litre across all variants and Mother Dairy raised the price by Rs 2 per liter on its full cream milk offerings.

Read More