DAIRY NEWS Disinvestment in Metro Dairy Kolkata under ED’s Lense

Metro dairy was set up as India’s first dairy project under PPP mode. It was set up under a tripartite arrangement of West bengal Milk Producers Federations, NDDB and Keventer’s Agro. It was being set up as part-3 of the Operation Flood in 1996. Later, NDDB sold its stake to Keventer’s Agro.

InAugust 2017 West Bengal government too disinvest and sold its 47% stake in Metro Dairy to Keventer Agro. In 2018 Mr Adhir Ranjan Chaudhry, from Congress filed a PIL accusing undervaluation of Metro dairy during disinvestment. This led to an enquiry by the ED.

Now the process of summoning of key IAS officers who were heading key departments like Finance, animal husbandry and state poultry & dairy farms at the time of disinvestment has begun . ED is awaiting permission from the chief minister office. This is probably the only case of disinvestment under current government’s tenure.