It is rather unfortunate that the government, which has reduced GST on a number of products and services in recent months, hasn’t favourably looked at ghee, which is being currently taxed at 12 per cent, said Radhey Shyam Dixit, Chairman and Managing Director of Ananda Dairy.
“Look at the irony. While edible oil, a good part of which is imported, carries a GST of only 5 per cent, ghee is taxed at a much higher rate. It is all happening when our dairy farmers are out in the streets over falling milk prices on account of a glut in production,” Dixit told BusinessLine.
According to him, reduced taxes will result in improved sales of ghee and ultimately benefit farmers by increasing the volume of milk procured by the organised dairy sector.
Talking about the ₹1,500-crore company’s future plans, Dixit said Ananda Dairy plans to double its milk procurement to 16 lakh litres per day in 2021 from the current 8-9 lakh a day.
While Ananda sells 60 per cent of milk procured as liquid milk, the rest is converted into different milk products. Over the last few years, Ananda has opened 500 company-owned company-operated stores across the National Capital Region and it plans to increase the number to 1,500 by 2021.
“We are currently growing at a rate of 30 per cent and hope to sustain the same in the near future,” Dixit said.
Ananda currently has 34 chilling centres in different parts of Uttar Pradesh and procures milk from 2.5 lakh farmers at present. It has plans to extend procurement to other States such as Rajasthan in the near future.