NEW DELHI: The government on Friday informed the parliament that there is no proposal to fix minimum support price (MSP) for milk in the country as it is a highly perishable product.
“This department does not regulate the prices of milk in the country. Prices are decided by the cooperative and private dairies based on cost of production,” Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
Since milk is a perishable product, there is no “proposal to fix MSP for milk in the country,” he said. Balyan also pointed out that production of milk in the country has been rising every year with the output standing at 176.35 million tonnes for the 2017-18 fiscal.
In response to a separate question on camel milk, the minister said the Union government has not received a proposal from the state governments and state dairy cooperatives for setting up of a dairy for camel’s milk.
However, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) — which owns Amul brand — has received `2.65 crore during 2014-15 to 2017-18 for purchase of machinery and equipments for camel milk collection, chilling and processing under the central scheme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Balyan said.
Milk production on the up in india
Production of milk in the country has been rising every year with the output standing at 176.35 million tonnes for the 2017-18 fiscal. However, the Union government has not received a proposal from the state governments and state dairy cooperatives for setting up of a dairy for camel’s milk.