CHENNAI: After being told by the Union government that price quoted by Aavin for infrastructure development works were higher than prevailing rates, the State milk cooperative has directed its district milk unions to revise the estimation immediately.
Under the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) 2021-22 to 2023-24, a scheme sponsored by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), several projects had been proposed to augment Aavin’s capacity to chill, process, and test milk.
As part of the project, proposals had been sent to the Centre for setting up bulk milk coolers and automatic milk collection units, and procuring milk analysers and other materials for labs and dairies.
Referring to the observations of the State technical management committee that had met on May 30, C Sen, Union Deputy Commissioner, Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, in a letter dated May 31 to Aavin, said two different costs Rs 4.5 lakh and Rs 4.7 lakh —have been quoted for procuring milk analysers.
Similarly, Rs 2.5 lakh cost quoted for each automatic milk collection centre is higher than the market price, the letter said, flagging several discrepancies in Aavin’s proposal. About 154 milk analysers were proposed to be purchased to test milk quality at district milk unions.
Following these observations, officials of the State animal husbandry held a meeting on May 31 and decided to revise the estimation. After Aavin Managing Director directed district unions to revise the cost, the price of milk analyser has been reduced to Rs 3.85 lakh from the proposed Rs 4.7 lakh per unit and automatic milk cooler cost was reduced to Rs 1.36 lakh from Rs 2.5 lakh. The estimated cost for setting up a 5,000-litre bulk cooler was cut from Rs 21.95 lakh to Rs 18 lakh and 3,000-litre coolers from Rs 19.39 lakh to 16 lakh each.
When contacted, Aavin officials remained tight-lipped about the reason for higher cost estimation. According to official data, on an average, about 2% to 5 % of the milk procured from farmers gets spoiled because of the lack of adequate infrastructure to maintain milk at optimal temperature across the State. “Bulk milk coolers will help maintain milk temperature below 4 degrees Celsius before it gets transported to chilling centres or dairies,” an Aavin official said.
Rs 2.5 lakh
The cost of Rs 2.5 lakh quoted for each automatic milk collection centre is higher than market price