• Opposition MP alleges Amul abandoned JV in 1900s-2000s
• Premadasa mistaken, Amul was never in JV with Milco: GM

Milco (Pvt) Ltd. has refuted the recent assertions made by Opposition and Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) Leader Sajith Premadasa, where he charged that Indian dairy company Amul had previously abandoned a Joint Venture (JV) with the Sri Lankan Government during the 1990s-2000s. 

Premadasa made this allegation in Parliament when questioning the Government’s decision to enter into a JV with Amul for the divestiture of its stake in the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) and Milco. 

Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Milco General Manager Sudath Munasinghe said that the Opposition Leader had been mistaken and that Amul had never previously been involved in any JV agreement with the Sri Lankan Government in relation to Milco and the NLDB. 

Elaborating further, he stated that the Opposition Leader was confused and that he had likely been referring to the agreement the Government had previously attempted to enter into with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) of India. 

Munasinghe revealed that the attempt to reach an agreement with the NDDB had been abandoned as both parties had been unable to agree on certain key points.

“The project with the NDDB was not a failure. The agreement wasn’t entered into because there were certain disputes at a higher level,” he stated.

Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (17), the Opposition Leader alleged that Sri Lanka had previously attempted to enter into a JV agreement with Amul during the 1990 to 2000 period. However, Amul had purportedly left after the attempt to reach a JV had failed. Therefore, he questioned why the Government was once again attempting to embark on a JV with Amul when the previous attempt had failed.

Commenting further, Munsinghe revealed that the JV company, in which the Government’s stake in Milco and the NLDB would be vested, had already been established. According to reports, the JV comprises the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) which owns Amul, Cargills (Ceylon) PLC, and the NDDB.

It is further reported that the Government intends to retain a golden share without rights for dividends or liabilities, and that the partners of the Joint Venture company have proved amicable to the said proposal, provided that the golden shareholder has no control over the company’s affairs. 

Munasinghe stated that they were presently engaged in the valuation process of the two entities in order to arrive at a final agreement with the Joint Venture for the divestiture of the Government’s stake.

He stated that it was unfair to blame Milco and the NLDB for failing to meet the milk production needs of the country, since the NLDB was merely the supplier of livestock while Milco merely made products from the milk obtained from farmers. He alleged that Government policies had not been conducive to promoting milk production.