KELUM BANDARA 
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Govt. gives up on Amul
The new government is unlikely to follow the previous government’s model in tying up with India’s Amul in the development of dairy sector, an informed source said yesterday
During the time of the last government, Sri Lanka sought assistance from India’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and market leader Amul in a bid to scale up its dairy production to become self-sufficient.
At that time, there were reports that Sri Lanka’s state owned dairy company Milco and dairy farms were to be taken over by India’s Amul Dairy Company in a Sri Lanka-India joint venture (JV). Amul is under the ownership of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) based in Anand, Gujarat in India. It is controlled by 3.6 million milk producers.
The previous government signed an initial agreement in this regard. At that time, the trade unions affiliated to the National People’s Power (NPP), then as a party in the opposition, protested against it.
The current NPP government will not proceed with the previous government’s plan.
During the visit of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to India recently, the leaders of both sides have discussed cooperation on the development of the dairy sector.
Both leaders appreciated the ongoing collaboration for the development of the dairy sector in Sri Lanka with the aim of promoting self-sufficiency and nutritional security, according to the joint statement issued after the visit.
However, no discussion has taken place on the involvement of Amul in terms of understandings reached with the last government. An informed source said the new government is against the outright sale of state assets.
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