MK Stalin calls upon Amit Shah for action against Amul's entry into Tamil Nadu milk market

A month after a political slugfest erupted in Karnataka over dairy brand Amul’s entry into the state, a fresh controversy has broken out, now in Tamil Nadu. The state’s chief minister MK Stalin has written to Home Minister Amit Shah over one of Amul’s milk cooperative unions setting up chilling plants, and procuring from some districts in the state.

In a letter to Shah, Stalin sought to draw ‘urgent attention’ to the issues arising out of milk procurement by the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union in the Tamil Nadu milk shed area and its impact on Aavin. Aavin is a milk brand sold by Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited. Kaira is one of the 18 milk cooperative unions under the ambit of the Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation that markets under the brand Amul.

Regional cooperatives have been the bedrock of dairy development in the states and are better placed to engage and… pic.twitter.com/yn2pKINofO

— M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) May 25, 2023

Stalin said in his letter that while Amul was only selling its products through outlets in the state so far, it has come to their notice that Kaira has installed chilling stations and a processing plant in Krishnagiri District through its multi-state cooperative licence. He added that Amul plans to procure milk through FPOS and SHGS in and around Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts in our State.

Recently, it has come to our notice that the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union (Amul), has utilised their multi-state cooperative licence, to install chilling centres and a processing plant in Krishnagiri District and has planned to procure milk through farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and Self-help groups (SHGs) in and around Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupathur, Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts in the state.

"It has been a norm in India to let cooperatives thrive without infringing on each other's milk-shed area. Such cross-procurement goes against the spirit of 'Operation White Flood' and will exacerbate problems for the consumers given the prevailing milk shortage scenario in the country. This act of AMUL infringes on Aavin's milk shed area which has been nurtured in true cooperative spirit over decades,” he wrote in the letter.

He added that it will also create unhealthy competition between cooperatives engaged in procuring and marketing milk and milk products.

“Regional cooperatives have been the bedrock of dairy development in the states, and they are better placed to engage and nurture producers and to cushion consumers from arbitrary price hikes,” Stalin added.

Stalin has sought Shah’s intervention to direct Amul to desist from procuring milk procurement from Aavin’s milk shed areas in the state.

In the state of Tamil Nadu, 9,673 Milk Producers Co-operative Societies operate under the ambit of the Aavin cooperative procuring 35 lakh litres of milk per day from about 4.5 lakh pouring members, as per the letter. Amul on the other hand comprises 18 milk cooperative unions with 7.1 lakh producer members with a milk handling capacity of 5.2 million litres per day.

The Amul Vs Aavin issue comes a month after a controversy broke out in Karnataka over Amul’s entry into the state. The opposition at the time raised concerns over the impact on its own state cooperative’s brand Nandini.

While Amul is yet to respond to CNBC-TV18’s queries, at the time of the Karnataka controversy, GCMFF MD Jayen Mehta told CNBC-TV18 that Nandini and Amul have worked together in the past and that Amul’s foray into Karnataka will not hurt Nandini in any way.