Business environment

Inception:
Milk Production is a very important part of the agricultural economy in the State of Punjab. Punjab is one of the smallest States in Indian Union with a total area of 50,362 Sq. Kms., which is 1.5% of the Indian landmass. Dairy Farming is an age-old subsidiary profession in the rural areas of Punjab. Punjab is the second largest milk producing state in India, producing around 10% of the countrys Milk Production i.e. 8 million tones annually.



1. First Milk Plant, of the State was setup at Verka near Amritsar.
2. The brand name of Milk and Milk Products was adopted as Verka.
3. The Foundation stone of Milk Plant, Ludhiana was laid by Hon. S. Parkash Singh Badal, the then Chief Minister of Punjab in 1970.
4. Commissioning of the Plant was done by Punjab Dairy Development Corporation in 1974.
5. Inauguration was done by Late Smt. Indira Gandhi the then Prime Minister of India.
6. The capacity of the plant was 1.00 lac. Litre per day, Including powder plant of 7 MT.And now the milk handling capacity is 4.00 Lac Liter perday.

PRODUCTS :

GHEE, S.M.P., W.M.P. BUTTER PANEER, MILK-CAKE & S.F.M.


State Information Commissioner:

R.K.Gupta



Price List:
VerkaMilk Rs 21 per litre before crises it's now Rs 25 per liter.
Curd Rs 35 per kg before crises its now 42 per kg.
Cheese Rs 130 per kg before crises its now 150 per kg.




Objectives:
1. To strengthen dairy sector, Milkfed came into existence in 1978 and Simultaneously Distt. Milk unions were formed.
2. Village level cooperative societies were also formed on "Anand Pattern". The system was run by the farmers, of the farmers and for the farmers.
3. To give remunerative prices to farmers and to ensure permanent market for the whole year.
4. To provide technical inputs like artificial insemination,to improve the breed of animals,animals health services,preventive disease treatment andawareness regarding farm management etc.
5. To provide ISI marks good quality balanced Cattle feed and fodder seeds to the farmers.






Quality of Milk and Milk Products:
1. To improve the quality of raw milk, Clean Milk Production program started in 650 villages and resultantly the quality of products increased.
2. Milk Plant, Ludhiana was the First in India in Dairy Sector to get ISO Certification.
3. Under ISO Certification and HACCP (IS 15000) Milk Union started export of Ghee, SMP to Gulf Countries Philippines, Manila, South Africa, Singapore, Bangla Desh etc. The export is more than 5.5 crore during the last year.
4. To further improve the quality of Raw Milk, Milk Union started 365 Automatic Milk collection Stations at village level.
5. To meet the Challenges of WTO Milk Union started TIFAC program with the help of Ministry of information.
6. 22 Bulk Milk Coolers have been installed at village level to chill the milk on this spot and to check bacterial count.
7. 28 model dairy demonstration farms have been established including milking machines in distt. of Ludhiana which has encouraged the farmers to adopted dairy on large scale.



Present Status/ Achievements of the Plant:
1. No. of societies increased from 94 to 751 and its membership from 5400 to 78000.
2. Milk Procurement has increased from 10200 LPD to 2,50,000 LPD.
3. City supply has increase from 66000 LPD to 1,60,000 LPD




Installed Handling Capacity :
100 ('000' Liters per Day)

Problem faced by verka company from economic environment:
"This is just a publicity stunt of the administration and this decision cannot survive for long. Normally a plastic bag used by shopkeepers cost anywhere between Re 1 to Rs 5, but jute or paper bag costs at least Rs 7," a member of Chandigarh Plastic Manufacturers' Association said.

"The administration has taken this decision hurriedly, ignoring the interests of traders and common persons. This move can also enhance inflation, as the traders would increase the commodities costs to cover up the increase cost of carry bags," owner of a Verka milk booth Raghuvansh Singh said here.

He added, "We are facing a lot of trouble in our business as very few people bring their own bags and till now we have not found any alternative to the plastic bags."

Violators of this act can be given rigorous imprisonment extended up to five years or fine of Rs one lakh or both depending on the extent of violations.

For the habitual violators, an additional fine of Rs 5,000 per day shall be imposed and there are provisions of imprisonment up to seven years depending upon the violation, stated the official.
Effect in economic environment unfair restrictive trade policy follow by verka company:
THE UT State Commission has directed Verka to investigate the reason for underweight packing in service and unfair trade practice as per a complaint lodged by one Ajay Sood, a Chandigarh resident, and has ordered Verka to rectify the same.
In his complaint to the district forum, Sood had said that three pouches of milk (which should have been weighing 500ml each) bought from a distributor rehri were suspected to be less than the weight printed on the packet.
The District Forum-II had observed that since the milk plant paid Rs 30,000 as compounding (compromise) fee to UT Weights and Measures Department, Chandigarh, they had in fact admitted to their delinquency. It also brushed aside the plants’ contention that the holes had been made in the pouches by the complainant since these could have been detected at the time of measurement.

‘Present crisis in state result of Centre’s wrong policies’:
Express News Service Posted: Nov 15, 2008 at 0028 hrs
Mohali, November 14 The Punjab government has prepared a four-point programme to usher in a socio-economic revolution in the state, Cooperation Minister Capt Kanwaljit Singh said, while inaugurating the week-long celebrations to mark the 55th All India Cooperative Week at Verka Milk Plant in Phase VI, in Mohali on Friday. The programme will be implemented through the Cooperative department.
He added that the strategy has been formulated to bail out the state from the serious economic crisis being faced at the moment.
Under the programme, the Cooperative department will formulate plans for the social, economic and political empowerment of women to make them self-reliant and ensure their equal participation in every field.
He said the scheme also plans to provide houses to the economically weaker sections of the society and this responsibility has been entrusted to Housefed.
“Special efforts will also be made to generate more and more job opportunities to remove widespread unemployment in the state,” he said.
He said the present crisis in the state is the result of wrong economic policies adopted by the Centre, under which, input instruments and other ingredients are provided to farmers in the state on high costs whereas prices of their produce are fixed lower than even its actual cost of production.
“Crop diversification is being encouraged with special emphasis on dairy farming and other alternative works with a view to bring farmers out of this mess,” he disclosed.
Referring to Milkfed, the Minister said its milk procurement has increased by more than 30 per cent in the last one year after it succeeded in winning the confidence of those producers who were earlier attached with other multinational companies.
He said the Cooperative department has tied up with three multinational companies including Escorts India Pvt. Ltd, Philips and Dixon India Ltd for the supply of household goods at 30 per cent less rate to more than 50 lakh members of Cooperative Societies in the state.
After deliberating on the details of the case, the Forum directed the plants to pay Rs 10,000 as compensation for deficiency in service and unfair trade practices. Out of the total compensation, Rs 8,000 were to be handed over to the Secretary, Chandigarh UT State Legal Service Authority, while Rs 2,000 were to be paid to Sood, the Forum directed.




Network of verka:
Presently, there is strong Network of about 6000 (as on 31.3.2007) Milk Producers Cooperative Societies organized at village level. About 3.60 Lakh milk producer members are attached to these societies. Fresh milk is procured from the milk producers twice a day through village level societies directly without the assistance of any middleman.




EXPORT OF MILK PRODUCTS:

After carving a niche in the national market, Verka brand has reached in foreign market also. MILKFED has established its Ghee market in Middle East. Verka Ghee reached all the emirates and is available almost in all super markets. The penetration is so deep that Verka Ghee is available even in far off labor camps. In addition to Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Muscat, Australia and Japan, Verka Ghee is exported to New Zealand and Malaysia also.









TUERNOVER :


The annual turnover of Milkfed which was Rs. 585 crores in the year 2003-04 has hit the level of Rs. 782 crores in the year 2006-07.



Equity Participation:

The Paid-up equity of Milkfed as on 31.3.2007 was to the tune of Rs. 47.15 crores which comprises of Rs. 30.72 crores from the cooperative members and balance Rs. 16.43 crores from State Government.


HOUSEFED:

During the year 1973-74 only Rs. 4.47 lacs were sanctioned to cooperative house building societies. Since then Housefed has never looked back and has continued to gain strength, with a total membership of 343 cooperative house building societies, has disbursed Rs. 102772.93 Lacs as on 31-03-08 for the constructions of 1161.50 houses through its 18 district offices and H.O manned by about 400 staff members functioning at various levels.



Verka losing Rs 1.5 cr per month:
The Verka milk plant here is losing at least Rs 1.5 crore every month due to the non-implementation of a new policy aimed at increasing the sale of Verka milk in Mohali, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Shimla by at least 40,000 litres a day.