20 lakh litres of milk unsold daily in state

Owing to lockdown which led to shutting down of industrial-commercial activities, the state has been reporting more than 20 lakh litres of excess milk each day.

Owing to lockdown which led to shutting down of industrial-commercial activities, the state has been reporting more than 20 lakh litres of excess milk each day. As opposed to the daily production of around 2 crore litre of milk each day, including 1.5 crore litre in the organised sector, the daily consumption has come down to about 1.75 crore litre, forcing milk brands to convert excess milk into skimmed milk powder (SMP).

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Every year between May and August, milk supply generally drops below the demand, owing to a decrease in production.

However, this year companies are reporting excess milk owing to shutting down of hotel, confectionary and sweet industries as well as restrictions on the exports of the milk products.

“This led to a demand-supply gap of more than 30 lakh litre at the initial stage of lockdown. It has now come down to more than 20 lakh litre. Milk brands, in both private and cooperative sectors, were forced to convert milk into SMP. The stock of SMP in Maharashtra has now piled up to 60,000 metric tonne. However, with the fall in its price, dairy brands may end up sustaining loss of ₹80-₹100 for each kilogram,” said Arun Narke, former president of Indian Dairy Association.

To safeguard the interest of farmers, the state government has announced procurement of excess milk in the public and cooperative sector and convert it into SMP. “We have procured 4.80 crore litre milk from farmers during lockdown at the cost of ₹25 for one litre. Our intervention resulted in retention of fair price. We expect the rate of SMP to increase in next few weeks,” said Naresh Gite, managing director, Maharashtra state cooperative dairy federation.