Post completion of regulatory formalities, Amul to start exports to Russia

Russia imports nearly 30% of its dairy products requirement, or around 8-10 lakh tonnes of milk powder and 20 lakh tonnes of cheese per annum

The country's largest dairy federation, the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) which would be the first dairy major from India to export to Russia, is waiting for formalities between the Export Inspection Council of India, and its Russian counterparts to complete, so that it could begin exporting to the country.

A senior official of GCMMF which sells dairy products under the Amul brand, said that while Russian authorities had already visited Amul's manufacturing facilities in Gujarat and were satisfied, the formal exports would begin post the formalities are complete.

The Export Inspection Council of India (EIC) is the regulatory authority for quality control and pre-shipment inspection of notified export commodities.

RS Sodhi, managing director of GCMMF also raised concern about the low prices of dairy commodities in the international market. "We would start exporting to Russia in a while, after the regulatory formalities are complete. However, the prices are not very lucrative in the international market at the moment," he said without wishing to share a more precise time to begin exports to Russia.

GCMMF has held talks with Russia's Galactika Group for dairy exports a few months back, after Russia lifted its ban on import of dairy products from India.

Russia imports nearly 30 per cent of its dairy products requirement, or around 8-10 lakh tonnes of milk powder and 20 lakh tonnes of cheese per annum. After almost trebling its exports last fiscal (at around Rs 530 crore), Amul has said earlier that this fiscal, exports would be on a slow lane, owing to weak prices in the international market. It could even be less by around 50 per cent. Hence, Amul's focus is more on the domestic market this fiscal, where demand for milk and milk products are growing steadily, and Amul itself is clocking double digit growth rate.

At present, Amul exports milk and other dairy products to about 20 countries, including the US, West Asian countries, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Afghanistan, neighbouring Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, among others. Import of milk and dairy products rose in Russia because of shortage of raw milk and cheaper import prices.