An Amul plant in Andhra sparks political war, TDP calls it ‘surrender’ to Gujarat

The TDP, in turn, has called the project a sellout to Gujarat, the base of Amul, and a blow to Telugu pride.

The YSRCP government has leased out the Chittoor land to Amul for 99 years, as part of the MoU. Apart from ice-cream, the Amul unit will churn out a range of dairy products, including milk powder, paneer, yogurt, butter, as well as process about 1 lakh litres of milk daily.

Amul is investing Rs 385 crore to set up the facility, Jagan said, after laying the foundation stone. “As many as 5,000 direct jobs will be created and about 2 lakh people will work indirectly through their outlets and distribution channels.”

Countering the TDP charge, the CM said that under the party’s government led by Chandrababu Naidu, 54 entities, including government establishments and corporations, shut down or were sold off. “The Andhra Pradesh Road Transport Corporation, government hospitals and government-run schools would not exist today if Chandrababu Naidu had not lost the elections in 2004,” Jagan said.

Speaking about the Vijaya Dairy, he said that in 1988, it processed 2 lakh litres of milk every day. “It reached an average of 2.5 lakh to 3 lakh litres per day between 1989 and 1993. In 1993, Chandrababu Naidu established his own dairy enterprise, Heritage Dairy… On August 31, 2002, Vijaya Dairy was abruptly brought to the point of shutdown. Farmers and workers were left burdened with hundreds of crores in arrears… Chandrababu exerted pressure on local dairy farmers to benefit his business.”

Jagan claimed that at one time, Vijaya Dairy was on the same footing as Amul. “But now the biggest cooperative dairy in the world is Amul Dairy.” He said that by ensuring the re-start of the dairy facility at Chittoor, he was fulfilling a pre-poll promise.

“We have brought in Amul to help the cooperative sector get back on track… The increase in price of milk will benefit thousands of farmers not only in the Chittoor area but also neighbouring Rayalaseema and Nellore districts,” CM said.

The TDP has alleged that Jagan had succumbed to “pressure” and cleared the Amul facility due to the number of court cases he is facing from Central agencies. “What is the secret behind inviting the Gujarat-based dairy without considering local units in the state?” TDP state unit president Kinjerapu Atchen Naidu wrote in a letter to Chief Secretary K S Jawahar Reddy.

“Thousands of crores worth of public property and cooperative dairies” were being “surrendered” to Amul, Atchen Naidu wrote, calling the move “barbaric”. He said the YSRCP government’s decisions would lead to shutting down of the cooperative system in the state.

He also gave the example of Karnataka as well as Tamil Nadu, which recently opposed the entry of Amul in their state, fearing it would kill their local dairy cooperatives.

The TDP has asked the YSRCP government to explain how Amul would help the people of the state.