Govt bans milk powder export
The government banned exports of milk powder till September to avert any scarcity of milk.
By PTI |
NEW DELHI: Concerned over inflationary pressures due to any rise in milk prices, the government today banned exports of milk powder till September to avert any scarcity of milk during the summer months.
Milk prices have already been raised by Re 1 a litre last month due to increase in demand.
"Prices of milk and Skimmed Milk Powder (SMP) have hardened. We wanted to import SMP but due to hardening of the international prices there has been no import of SMP," Finance Minister P Chidambaram said, adding that the government has decided to ban exports of the product till September 30 this year.
Chidambaram told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs that the situation will be reviewed after September.
Exports of skimmed milk powder from India have shot up from 28,250 tonnes in 2004-05 to 50,501 tonnes during 2005-06, Chidambaram said, adding that it would have reached 68,000 tonnes during the current financial year but for the ban.
Even European Union countries have reported low stocks of skimmed milk powder due to demand-supply gap, Chidambaram said.
Stating that the decision to impose a ban as an exercise of "caution and prudence", Chidambaram said the situation will be reviewed in September before taking any decision on the ban.
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