The industry feels that unlike in the domestic dairy sector, overseas, particualrly in the south Asian region like Thailand, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal, the import duties on milk products need to be reviewed as well as quality standards strictly implemented.

The industry has called for the provision of a level playing field by reviewing the existing bound rates of duty on dairy and dairy products which have to face considerable competition in the global market place.

"The Indian dairy industry is already facing stiff disadvantages from the industry from the developed world which are equipped with the latest technologies as well as are financially supported by high subsidies which add up to almost 50 to 60 per cent of the costs," said sources in the Indian Dairy Association.

The industry has also takenthe case of the skimmed milk powder and points out that the competitors to India like from the Asian region itself have imposed an average of 144 per cent import duty on the item.

But the Indian government had given a big knock to the domestic sector with the recent move of allowing skimmed milk imports under the OGL category.With this, the industry fears that the local market would be flooded with foreign sources skimmed milk powder and in the process, wipe out the Indian produce completely.

"Cheap and sub-standard skimmed milk powder are being imported into the country and used for the manufacture of milk-based products that could be harmful," said highly placed official of the Indian Dairy Association (IDA).A large part of these imports are estimated to be carried through large multinationals who are well-placed to take advantage of the low overseas prices.

A large quantum of the imports would be used in value addition of the products of these multinationals.

Industry sources say that the Indiandairy industry is not only a vital producer of an essential food item but it also is one of the largest employer in the country in both the rural sector as well as the semi-urban and urban regions.

As India is the largest milk producing country in the world, industry experts say that the adverse impact of the recent policies is going to have a far reaching consequence on the economy as a whole.

With this, the industry has also urged the government to give a larger leeway for the domestic producers through adequate measures in order to sustain their operations even as the government was bound to lower tariffs with the implementation of the WTO regime.