Amul MD concerned over possible entry of foreign players in India

RI Bureau

The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which operates its brand under Amul, has requested the government not to allow other countries to dump their dairy products in India under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). Talking at a conference organised by CII, R S Sodhi expressed concerns over the possible entry of foreign players in the Indian dairy market under the FTA and registered his strong objections to such a move. “There are important lessons from the dairy sector for other food processing sector. Demand for processing and packed foods will increase manifold over the years to come driven largely by rising income levels and changing lifestyles,” added Sodhi. According to Sodhi, countries like New Zealand, Australia and European Union (EU) nations are under pressure to sell their surplus products in the Indian market. "Some countries are lobbying hard for access to the Indian dairy market through bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations. We request our policy makers to ensure that dairy products are completely kept out of the ambit of FTAs with major dairy product exporting nations," Sodhi told.

Though the central government has not included dairy products in the FTA yet, Sodhi said that GCMMF has been cautioning the government against this move.

"We know that the government has never favoured the inclusion of dairy products under FTA, but it is our duty to caution them from time to time, since these countries still lobby for it. We believe that the entry of foreign players will severely hit the livelihood of millions of Indian farmers," added concerned Sodhi.