Mumbai, June 14: Fortis Healthcare (FHL) has withdrawn a composite scheme of "arrangement and amalgamation between the company, Fortis Malar Hospitals, SRL and their respective shareholders and creditors", subject to NCLT approval.

According to a late Wednesday night BSE filing, the company said the scheme is "currently pending for approval with the NCLT, Chandigarh Bench".

The company cited delays in the process as one of the reasons to withdraw the scheme. FHL said the entire process was expected to be completed in 6-8 months, however, due to
reasons beyond its control, the process has taken over 19 months and is still not complete.

"During this period of 19 months (a) healthcare sector has witnessed strong headwinds and (b) performance of diagnostics business has not been optimum," the filing said.

"Given the challenges or headwinds in the sector and less than optimum performance of the diagnostics business during the period of delay, the demerger and a subsequent listing may result in value unlocking that may not be optimum for Fortis shareholders at this point of time."

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New Delhi, Nov 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday launched the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini brand milk products in the Delhi-NCR market, pricing them marginally lower than competitors to gain a foothold in the region.

The cooperative will retail four cow milk variants, curd, and buttermilk from Friday, with competitive pricing that undercuts established players like Mother Dairy and Amul.

Cow milk will be sold at Rs 56 per litre, full Cream Milk at Rs 67 per litre, Standardised Milk at Rs 61 per litre, Toned Milk at Rs 55 per litre, and curd at Rs 74 per kg.

"We have surplus milk in the state. KMF along with Mandya Milk Union will market surplus milk of 3-4 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR," Siddaramaiah told reporters after launching the products.

The federation currently collects 100 lakh litres of milk daily, with local consumption at 60 lakh litres, leaving a surplus of 40 lakh litres for expansion into new markets.

However, the Chief Minister acknowledged the challenges of transporting milk over 2,500 km, which takes 50-54 hours.

There is a need to find new markets for surplus milk and gradually the KMF should be able to sell 5-6 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR, he added.

KMF Chairman LBP Bheemanaik assured that milk quality would be maintained during transit.

The federation has already partnered with 40 dealers in the Delhi-NCR region to facilitate sales, he added.

With a robust infrastructure of 26.76 lakh milk producers, 15,737 dairy cooperative societies, and 15 district milk unions, KMF has a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and exports dairy products to over 25 countries.

State Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy were present at the product launch.