No competition with Karnataka's Nandini; to sell milk, curd online only in Bengaluru: Amul chief
New Delhi(PTI): Caught in the political row over market place battle with popular Karnataka brand Nandini, head of the Gujarat-based cooperative selling Amul brand on Tuesday said it will sell milk and curd only through online channels in Bengaluru and there is no competition with Nandini milk which is much cheaper due to the state government subsidy.
Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) MD Jayen Mehta asserted that there cannot be "Amul versus Nandini" scenario as both are co-operatives owned by farmers. GCMMF will sell its Amul products only through e-commerce platforms and there is absolutely no plan of full-fledge entry into Karnataka, he told PTI.
According to him, Amul has been selling fresh milk in two districts of north Karnataka since 2015-16, but "there is no competition" as Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini milk is much cheaper than Amul because of the subsidy being provided by the state government.
Amul milk is Rs 54 per litre while Nandini milk is Rs 39 per litre only as the state government provides subsidy to farmers, he added.
A political row has erupted after Amul's announcement on April 5 that it will supply milk and curd in Bengaluru. Opposition parties -- Congress and the JD(S) -- have trained their guns at the ruling BJP in the state when the assembly elections are just a month away, expressing fears that the Rs 21,000 crore-Nandini brand, could be merged with Amul.
"There is no question of merger. Both are cooperatives. Amul is owned by farmers of Gujarat and Nandini is owned by farmers of Karnataka. Both of us have been working together not from now but since decades to build India's cooperative dairy industry. This has made India the largest producer of milk in the world," Mehta said.
Mehta, who is currently the MD in charge of GCMMF, emphasised that "there is no threat to Nandini from Amul and vice-versa. Both the co-operatives are working in co-ordination and co-operation with each other".
About the launch of its products in Karnataka, Mehta said the co-operative has been selling fresh milk in Huballi and Dharwad in North Karnataka from 2015-16, although its volume is only 8,000-10,000 litres per day as against around 1.30 lakh litres of milk per day is sold by Nandini in these two districts.
"People are saying that Amul has entered in Karnataka. But we are there from 2015-16 itself," he said, adding that the recent launch of Amul Taaza (toned milk) in Bengaluru is only and only through e-commerce platforms based on customers search data on online platforms.
He also ruled out plans for full-fledge entry into the Southern state as it is "not possible" because of the big price disadvantage.
GCMMF does not have milk processing plants and other infrastructure in Karnataka.
Citing example about the association between the two co-operatives, he said even today Amul ice cream is getting manufactured from Nandini milk and packed in their plants. This association for ice-cream has been in place since 1998.
During 2020-21, when the country was grappling with the coronavirus pandemic,
Mehta said GCMMF had purchased Rs 200 crore worth cheddar cheese from Nandini to support the farmers of Karnataka in view of surplus milk production at that time.
"We also co-operate in many other ways, like giving technical supports," he said.
GCMMF is expecting a 20 per cent growth in its revenue this fiscal to around Rs 66,000 crore on rising demand. It registered a turnover of Rs 55,055 crore in 2022-23, up 18.5 per cent from the previous year.
At present, GCMMF has 98 milk processing plants across the country with an installed capacity of 470 lakh litres per day. On an average, it is collecting 270 lakh litres of milk everyday from farmers.
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Sharad Pawar praised RSS after seeing how it burst fake narrative balloon of LS polls: Fadnavis
Nagpur, Jan 10: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar praised the RSS after realising how the outfit managed to overcome the fake narrative spread by the opposition in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The opposition had claimed BJP wanted to win 400 seats to change the Constitution and end reservations, a narrative which BJP leaders later claimed hit the party hard.
On Pawar praising the RSS recently, the CM said the MVA was successful in creating a fake narrative during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"When assembly polls were approaching, many people from diverse fields who are inspired by the RSS played their role and burst the balloon of this fake narrative. Sharad Pawar saheb is very intelligent. He would have certainly studied this aspect. He realised that this (RSS) is not a regular political power but a nationalist power. In any competition it is good to praise others," he added.
That is why Pawar may have praised the RSS, Fadnavis said.
Speaking at an interaction with senior editor Vivek Ghalsasi at Late Vilasji Fadnis Jivhala programme here, Fadnavis also said he had asked for organisational work when Eknath Shinde was made chief minister in June 2022, but senior leaders asked him to join the government.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked him not to behave like an extra-constitutional authority in the government.
He said the decision to become deputy chief minister on the command of the party leadership earned him a lot of praise from the cadre.
After the massive mandate the ruling alliance received in the 2024 assembly polls, Fadnavis said people and party workers would not have been happy if the CM was not from the BJP.
Shinde himself agreed within minutes that the CM must be from the BJP, which itself got 132 seats and was close to a majority of its own in the 288-member assembly, he added.
On Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray meeting him during the winter sessions of the legislature in Nagpur, Fadnavis said he had announced he would not indulge in politics of revenge after becoming CM and all leaders responded positively to it.
On chances of the NCP (SP) and NCP coming closer or reuniting, Fadnavis said, "If you see the developments that took place from 2019 to 2024, I realised never say never and anything can happen. Uddhav Thackeray goes to some other party and Ajit Pawar comes to us. In politics anything can happen though I am not saying this should happen."
He praised BJP leader Arun Gujarati from whom he learnt patience, which he claimed was an important quality in politics along with the ability to take criticism.
In a lighter vein, he said, "I only get angry when I am hungry. If you see me angry then give me something to eat and my anger will go away."
