Taking on the Giants
During the winter of 1957-58, Amul Dairy frequently worked beyond capacity, sometimes for days on end, making butter and milk powder in a dogged attempt to utilize the surplus milk refused by the Bombay Milk Scheme. For 49 days, the latter only accepted between 3700 and 7500 kl of milk daily, against the contracted minimum of 26,000 kl. Sales of Amul butter helped ease the resultant financial strain. Amul butter also compensated consumers for the shortage arising from the government's policy of severely restricting imports. By filling the gap, Amul became one of the leaders in import substitution, saved foreign exchange, and kept market prices of butter in check.
In 1958-59 the decidedly unhappy relationship between Kaira Cooperative and the BMS took a turn for the better when the latter increased its offtake by 30 per cent over the quantity accepted in 1957-58. Meanwhile, Amul yielded to persuasion by the Indian government and began to manufacture sweetened condensed milk.
The government had two reasons for urging Amul to make condensed milk. While the armed forces required large amounts of it, need to conserve foreign exchange necessitated its removal from the list of imports. In 1954-55, condensed milk worth about $1,500,000 had been imported, of which 60 per cent was taken by the armed forces.
Amul's success story continues...
Image: Various Amul products
Text and photographs excerpted from: The Amul India Story by Ruth Heredia. Price: Rs 295. Published with permission from Tata Mc-Graw Hill Publishing Company Limited. Copyright 1997. All rights reserved.
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