The signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and milk cooperative giant Anand Milk Union Limited (Amul) is suspected to be a well-planned strategy to attack the financial roots of Heritage Foods, the family enterprise of Telugu Desam Party president and former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
The MoU was signed by Special Chief Secretary Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development, Poonam Malakondaiah and Amul Chennai Zonal Head Rajan, in the presence of chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy at the camp office.
The government claimed that the step would give a great fillip to the empowerment of women self-help groups by encouraging the milk cooperatives in government sector.
Jagan said it would give an exposure to world class infrastructure, technology and marketing opportunities which would improve their standard of living and self-reliance of women.
Jagan said during his 3,648-km long padayatra, dairy farmers had brought to his notice the exploitation of dairy units to benefit Heritage Foods and the price of one litre water bottle was Rs 22 and one litre bottle of milk was sold at the same price.
“The previous TDP government exploited the dairy sector in cooperative sector to the hilt to benefit Heritage Foods. All dairies under State Diary Cooperative Federation have been put in the red,” he said.
It is pretty evident that the biggest sufferer in the market due to the entry of Amul in the milk products sector would be Heritage Foods, which has established itself as a big brand in the state.
Since Amul is also a popular brand with huge financial support, it would definitely give the Heritage a run for its money.
It remains to be seen how Nara Brahmani, Naidu’s daughter-in-law would face this challenge.