No proposal to fix MSP for milk: Govt

There is no proposal to fix minimum support price (MSP) for milk in the country as it is a highly perishable product, Parliament was informed on Friday.

"This Department does not regulate the prices of milk in the country. Prices are decided by the cooperative and private dairies based on the cost of production," Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Sanjeev Kumar Balyan said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

Since milk is a highly perishable production, there is no "proposal to fix MSP for milk in the country," he said.

Milk production in the country has been rising every year. The output stood at Rs 176.35 million tonnes during 2017-18 fiscal, the minister added.

With regard to camel milk, the Minister, in a separate reply, said the Union government has not received a proposal from the state governments and state dairy cooperatives for setting up of a dairy for camel's milk.

However, Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) -- which owns Amul brand -- has received Rs 2.65 crore during 2014-15 to 2017-18 for purchase of machinery and equipment for camel milk collection, chilling and processing under the central scheme Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, he said.