Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, commenting on the Amul vs Nandini controversy in Karnataka, has stated that she sees healthy competition between the two brands and supports both. During an ‘interaction with intellectuals' programme, organised by Thinkers Forum in Bengaluru on April 23, she said: "We support India's milk farmers. Every step will have to be taken to support them and it has been taken.”
Crediting Yediyurappa's government for hiking the money given to farmers while procuring milk, Nirmala said the subsequent governments too had done the same. In July 2008, the BJP government under BS Yeddyurappa had initiated a scheme of Rs 2 subsidy per litre of milk for farmers in the state. “After that subsequent governments also did the same … Congress and JD(S) gave farmers money. Strengthening the dairy farmers of Karnataka has never been a question. It has happened, will continue to happen and it's happening now," she said.
Citing healthy competition and consumer benefits, she said, "Both Nandini and Amul are good, and why shouldn't the consumer benefit?" Requesting all not to politicise it and create controversies around issues that are emotive in nature, she said farmers need not be dragged into a political controversy.
Sitharaman alleged that the controversy was being used for electoral purposes and called for building a positive narrative instead of pitting farmers against the government. “Amul entered Karnataka when there was a Congress government in Karnataka,” she said, adding that the former Chief Minister, under whose rule the brand entered north Karnataka, is now questioning Amul. This was tweaked and twisted and became an emotive issue in Karnataka only because it is election time, she said. Amul had announced plans to sell milk through quick commerce platforms in Bengaluru but the Gujarat-based brand had already been selling fresh milk in Belgavi and Hubballi for the past eight years.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, while commenting on the ongoing row between the two dairy co-ops, had recently said that Nandini would soon surpass Amul. He also said that if Amul makes Mysore Pak, Nandini would make Gujarat's Shrikhand.
In December 2022, Union Home Minister Amit Shah urged cooperative-model-based dairy companies Amul and Nandini to "cooperate" during a public meeting in Mandya, leading to accusations from political parties in the Opposition that the BJP government was attempting to merge Nandini with Amul. More recently, on April 5, Amul announced its entry into the fresh dairy market in Bengaluru by introducing fresh milk and curd, causing backlash from the Opposition parties and pro-Kannada groups, who began trending #GoBackAmul and #SaveNandini campaigns on social media. Amid the controversy, they also accused the BJP government of creating "artificial scarcity" of Nandini milk to provide back door entry to Amul.
Nandini, under the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers' Federation Limited (KMF), is the apex body for the dairy co-operative movement in Karnataka that markets milk and milk products. KMF has 16 milk unions that cover all the districts of Karnataka and procure milk from primary Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCS) to distribute to consumers in various towns, cities, and rural markets in the state. However, district milk unions have been demanding a hike in procurement costs and asking the government to sell at Rs 50 per litre to help dairy farmers meet their operating costs. Nandini holds over 90% of the market share in Karnataka for milk and milk products while Amul occupies third or fourth place in the fresh milk market.
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