Sangam Dairy, a well-reputed dairy firm among the farming communities in the Guntur district, like the other milk production companies in the country, is forced to increase its milk prices recently.
Narendra Kumar Dulipalla, Chairman of Sangam Dairy said that there are many reasons for the price rise including, hike in fuel prices and transportation costs, The new 5% to 12% GST on Dairy equipment, the 5% GST on curd and the increase in the cost of the packing material.
He said that there was no GST on Dairy equipment until recently when the Central government imposed it. In the same manner, there was no tax on curd, but now GST is imposed by the union government.
He also alleged that Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has failed in implementing his poll promise of providing ₹4 per litre to the farmers. Instead, the government has been promoting Amul, he added.
Mr. Dulipalla said that Amul already gets a competitive advantage as it need not invest like the other cooperative societies and dairies in the State because the State government is ensuring maximum infrastructure to them.
Expressing his doubts about Amul’s commitment towards its farmers’ welfare, he said that Sangam has been providing bonuses on the profits of the dairy and added that Amul will not take such measures. He said that since 2010, they have given nearly ₹200 crores to the farmers as bonuses which is in addition to the price paid to them at the time of milk collection. He said that the dairy is able to collect about 6.5 lakh to 7 lakh litres per day. He further observed that this dairy is owned by the farmers and there are no middlemen.