No plan to sell DMS under garb of engaging professional agency, says government

The Centre, which is in the process of engaging an agency to professionally run Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS), does not intend to either privatise the company or sell it off because its assets would still be under the government's control, Devendra Chaudhary, secretary, Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries, told Business Standard.

The assets include a processing plant at Shadipur in Delhi.

"We are not selling off DMS as its assets would still remain under government control," said Chaudhary.

DMS, one of the country's oldest running milk schemes suffering losses for the past many years, has seen a turnaround of late.
 

DMS reported profits over two consecutive years in 2014-15 and 2015-16, after registering its first ever surplus in 2012-13.

In 2013-14, it recorded a profit of Rs 6.65 crore, which grew to Rs 55.3 crore in 2015-16. The 2015-16 profit amounted to 15 per cent of the expenditure of Rs 372.4 crore.

However, the newly earned profits are not enough to wipe off its accumulated loss of Rs 849 crore, which the Centre is believed to have agreed to write off after a professional agency or cooperative takes over its operations.

DMS works under the Union Agriculture Ministry's Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries.

While the organisation says it has managed a turnaround in fortunes thanks to better milk sourcing policies, critics say this has come on the back of privately entered agreements and not through cooperatives.

DMS' long-term operational efficiency also remains under cloud as Mother Dairy manages to sell 3.5 million litres of milk every day with a staff strength of Rs 1,000, while DMS sells only 300,000 litres of milk a day with a staff strength of 800. Amul is estimated to sell around three million litres a day in Delhi.

The previous United Progressive Alliance government had unsuccessfully tried to engage cooperatives and others to run the DMS operations.