Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)

Mangaluru, Dec 9: If the milk powder that is lying in the godowns of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is not sold within the next three to four months it might have to be discarded as the expiry date of the same will get over.

Fourteen milk federations have produced the milk powder from the surplus milk and stocked with the intention of selling the same. However, the marketing efforts of KMF have not yielded any fruitful results. Even the states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, who used to buy milk powder from KMF, have not asked for any shipment this time around.

Right now there is a stock of 17000 tonnes of skimmed and unskimmed milk powder in the godowns of KMF. The powder that is produced since May 2017 has not been sold at all. This has got a shelf life of one year. The production of milk powder is continuing without any interruption on a daily basis. If any buyers wish to buy the milk powder now, they will ask for the new stock. KMF is clueless now as to what to do with the old stock.

KMF gets 77 lac litres of milk every day. Out of this, only 35 to 38 lac litres of milk is sold. A very meagre amount is used for the production of sweets. Rest is converted into powder form, as there is no other option, though this is a financial burden to the federation. Even the government schemes like 'Ksheera Bhagya' and 'Mathru Poorna' have not helped in selling this powder.

Rakesh Singh, managing director of KMF, says, "The shelf life of milk powder is one year. We have a list of stock held by different federations. Additional stocks can be used by other federations. I do not have any information with regards to the dumping of excess milk powder in the sea, that is expired and in stock with Shivamogga milk federation,”

KMF loses Rs 7 in manufacturing one kg of milk powder. Except for Kolar, Bengaluru and Mangaluru, other 11 federations are running under loss. Shivamogga and Mysuru federations are under a loss of Rs 8 crore and 48 crore respectively.