Association demands government to allocate ₹1,000 crore for Milk, Dairy Development Department

The Tamil Nadu Milk Producer’s Welfare Association (TNMPWA) demanded Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to allocate ₹1,000 crore for the Milk and Dairy Development Department in the interim budget.

The TNMPWA general secretary M.G. Rajendran said, in Tamil Nadu, 30 lakh people are involved in milk production. But due to increase in fodder prices, milk producers are sustaining losses of about ₹10 to ₹15 to produce of one litre milk. As per the government census, three crore litres of milk was produced per day in the State, of which 45 lakh litres (15%) was kept for own use and remaining 2.55 crore litres was provided for sales. Likewise, 37 lakh litres (12.5%) was sent to Aavin and 2.18 crore litres to private milk companies. Compared with private companies, the procurement price offered by Aavin is ₹2 to ₹5 less per litre of milk, which causes loss to farmers, Mr. Rajendran added.

Stating that the procurement price should be increased for the benefit of both milk producers and Aavin, Mr. Rajendran said that per day Aavin was able to handle 43 lakh litres of milk and it aimed to increase its handling capacity to 73 lakh litres by the end of 2026. “Increasing the procurement price equal to the production cost will only aid in achieving this target,” he said and added that procuring milk from other States is unacceptable. The Chief Minister must increase the procurement price that benefits farmers in Tamil Nadu, Mr. Rajendran said.

“We demand Mr. Stalin to announce ₹12 per litre of milk as an incentive and to allocate ₹1,000 crore for the Milk and Dairy Development Department,” he said. Through this, 30 lakh people will show their support to the government”, Mr. Rajendran added.