No surplus stock of SMP to bother the Government: Radha Mohan Singh

Pashu Sandesh, 14th February 2019

It seems with the Lok Sabha elections around the corner, Government is trying to send positive signals on all fronts. Those who are monitoring the Dairy sector closely would vouch for the fact that till recently the media was awash with the reports of Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP) surplus with the Dairies all across country and the falling milk procurement prices. However in a response to a question in Lok Sabha, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh denied the problem of SMP surplus in the country and said that the stocks are well under control. He stressed that for selling the stock of SMP, the Government has announced exports incentives under Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) and with other measures by Government of India as well as from respective State Governments, some quantity of stocks of dairy commodities have been exported by cooperatives. This has led to reduction in pressure of stocks on domestic milk producers. Keeping in view the present situation of milk production and consumption, the stocks of skimmed milk powder and other dairy products are manageable.

Radha Mohan Singh elaborated on the details of measures taken by the Government to stabilise the stocks of dairy products are as under;

1. Increased the import duty of Whey Powder from 30% to 40%. 
2. Government has allowed 10% export incentive under Merchandise Export from India Scheme (MEIS) for all dairy products. Further Government has enhanced MEIS benefit to 20% from the current 10% for certain dairy products.
3. Advisory to all the States to include supply of milk/milk products of Cooperatives through Mid-day Meal Scheme, Anganwadis under Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS), Health schemes, Tribal Hostels and Government/Institutional canteen.
4. State Governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra have announced to provide subsidy of Rs 50/Kg for skim Milk Powder.

As per the data tabled in the house, during the current financial year 2018-19, the stock of SMP with dairy cooperatives has declined from 1.82 Lakh Metric Tonnes on March 2018 to 1.20 Lakh Metric Tonnes in December 2018 after reaching a peak of 2.08 Lakh Metric Tonnes in May 2018.