Hold talks with TTD, minister tells KMF on losing bid to supply ghee

Food and Civil Supplies Minister K H Muniyappa on Monday said he would ask Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) to resume talks with major buyers of its Nandini ghee and take steps to restart the supply.

"Though the minister for co-operation is looking after KMF, I would suggest them to resume talks with bulk buyers of ghee and supply it, as the quality is good," Muniyappa told reporters here.

He was answering questions on the KMF losing the race to supply Nandini ghee to the Tirupati Tirumala temples, which was one of the major bulk buyers.

"I don't know details as to why KMF lost the bid. However, in the interest of farmers and KMF, I will appeal to the management to take steps to try and resume supply," he said.

Also Read | Karnataka's KMF not supplying ghee for Tirupati laddus, says can't compromise on price

Earlier, KMF chairman Bheema Naik had said that Nandini no longer supplies ghee to Tirupati Tirumala temples as it can't supply the products at low prices.

He said Nandini had been supplying ghee to Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams for preparation of its popular laddu prasadam for many years. Since the temple invites bids to supply ghee, Nandini was unable to supply at low prices, Naik had said.

After Naik's statement, several people took to social media to criticise the Congress government in Karnataka, saying that the popular dairy brand of Karnataka was being killed by the bad policy of the state government. They also criticised the government for hiking Nandini milk prices.

Protecting the interests of 'Nandini' brand was was an issue in the Assembly elections, with the Congress attacking BJP for not preventing the entry of Amul brand in the retail supply of milk.

He urged the Centre to hike the minimum support price (MSP) for ragi and jowar for the 2023-24 procurement season.

Muniyappa, who met Union Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal here, submitted a memorandum, requesting him to increase MSP.

"For procurement year 2023-24, ragi MSP should be hiked to Rs 5,000 from Rs 3,846, MSP for jowar maldani should be increased to Rs 4,500 from Rs 3,225 and that for jowar hybrid should be hiked to Rs 4,500 from Rs 3,180," Muniyappa told reporters here.

He said Goyal agreed to the state's request to provide 8 lakh tonnes of ragi and 3 lakh tonnes of jowar for distribution under public distribution system.