No, Kerala government or milk federation has not banned Karnataka's dairy brand Nandini in the state

Context

A massive political row erupted in election-bound Karnataka over the arrival of Gujarat-based Amul milk into Bengaluru. Several political parties staged statewide protests turning it into a matter of pride for the state-owned Nandini milk produced and marketed by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF). 

Nandini had opened two milk outlets in the neighboring state of Kerala and has also issued tenders for over 100 more outlets in the State. Citing opposition in Karnataka over the entry of Amul, the Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), known by its trade name Milma, also raised concerns over Nandini’s entry into Kerala.

Amid these developments, some social media posts in Kannada started to claim that the Congress Party’s opposition to the entry of Amul milk into Karnataka has hurt the business of Nandini as it has been banned in Kerala. One such post in Kannada when translated to English read: “The Kerala Milk Union has blocked our Nandini, which was awakened by the drama they did,” referring to the Congress party in Karnataka. However, claims about Nandini getting banned in Kerala are incorrect. 

In Fact

Kerala’s Milma has expressed strong opposition to Nandini outlets opening in Kerala. Milma chairman K.S. Mani was quoted by Th Hindu saying, “As per the prevailing agreement and courteous business relations existing among milk cooperatives, cross-border marketing of liquid milk shall be avoided as it amounts to blatant encroachment of the sale area of the respective State.” 

Speaking to Asianet news, Mani noted that Kerala already buys 2.5 lakh liters of milk from Karnataka and that the move by Nandini to try and sell about 10,000 liters of milk by jeopardizing the existing arrangement does not seem like an intelligent move. He further noted that a cooperative society of one state going to another state by endangering the local cooperative society is not a healthy practice. 

Further, Mathrubhumi News quoted Milma managing director D.S. Konda saying that a cooperative society of one state selling its products in another state will by all means raise concerns from the local cooperative societies and this is something that should not be done. Reports also indicate that Milma has raised its concerns to the Kerala government. 

While it is worth noting that while several top officials from Kerala opposed or expressed concerns over Nandini’s “intrusion” into Kerala, there has been no official announcement by the KCMMF/Milma or the Kerala government, banning the sale of Nandini milk in the State. No minister from Kerala or a government official or anyone working at Milma has ever mentioned or released a statement about banning Nandini’s entry into Kerala.

 The two Nandini outlets opened in Kochi and Manjeri were still operational at the time of writing this fact-check.

The verdict

Social media posts from Karnataka claimed that the recent Nandini-Amul controversy has paved the way for the Kerala government to ban Nandini outlets in their state for intruding on their markets. While there is widespread opposition from Kerala’s milk federation and cooperative societies, there is no official ban in place on the sale of Nandini milk in Kerala. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.