The government is considering incentivising exports of milk products, adding milk to mid-day meal rations as well as reducing GST and increasing import duty on certain products as it seeks ways to ensure better returns for dairy farmers. Railway minister Piyush Goyal, who also holds the finance and coal portfolios, Amul Managing Director RS Sodhi, and Maharashtra State Commission of Agricultural Costs and Prices Centre Chairman Pasha Patel attended a high-level inter-ministerial meeting under Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to discuss these measures, with Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh joining in through videoconferencing. Sources said they also considered cutting GST on ghee and butter to 5% from 12% and increasing import duty on lactose to 60% from 40%. Government officials said dairy cooperatives have a stock of more 1.5 lakh tonnes of skimmed milk powder – used for preparing liquid milk in the summer when supplies are short – and they could easily export 50,000 tonnes if an export subsidy was given, helping to firm domestic prices.

(Source: ETRetail.com)