The Maharashtra Government has clarified that the state will not face scarcity of milk this year since supply is in abundance, while ruling out the possibility of increase in milk rates.
“There is no scarcity of milk in the state this year. Since milk is there in excess, powder can be made from it,” the Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Madhukar Chavan, said, adding that powder from 40,000 litres of milk is being made at the plants in Miraj and Nagpur.
Hinting that Mother Dairy might be asked to take over the defunct dairies, the Minister said: “We will ask Mother Dairy or somebody else if they could run the closed dairies.’’
Mother Dairy is a wholly owned subsidiary of National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
“Mother Dairy has a huge capital and is spread all over the country whereas demand for milk also keeps on increasing,” he said, adding that the State Government would only decide on the prices of Mother Dairy milk.
He also informed that the State Government has sought permission from the Centre to export milk powder.