New Delhi: There has been an uproar over the adulteration of animal fat and other things in the laddus of Tirupati temple. The Chandrababu Naidu government of Andhra Pradesh itself made public the lab report in which adulteration in Tirupati laddu has been confirmed. The government has changed the company supplying ghee for laddus. Now Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) will use “Nandini” brand ghee for laddus. The supply order has also been given to the company. Just like Amul and Mother Dairy are famous in North India Nandini is famous in South India and it is the largest milk brand in Karnataka and very popular in Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu Kerala Maharashtra and Goa. Nandini brand is owned by Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited (KMF). KMF is the second largest dairy cooperative federation in the country after Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) which produces Amul. How did KMF start The first cooperative dairy opened in the year 1955 in Kodagu district of Karnataka. At that time packaged milk was not in vogue. Farmers themselves used to deliver milk to every home. By the 70s emphasis was laid on increasing milk production. Milk revolution started in January 1970 which is called White Revolution. At the same time the World Bank also brought many schemes for dairy projects. Milk revolution and beginning of Nandini In 1974 the Karnataka Government formed the Karnataka Dairy Development Corporation (KDCC) in the state to implement World Bank dairy projects. Ten years later in 1984 the name of Dairy Development Corporation was changed to Karnataka Milk Federation. Around this time the company launched packaged milk and other products in the market under the name of ‘Nandini’. Within no time Nandini became the most popular brand of Karnataka and made its mark in the surrounding states as well. What makes KMF so popular? Karnataka Milk Federation leads 15 dairy unions in the state. Which includes Bengaluru Cooperative Milk Union Kolar Cooperative Milk Union Mysore Cooperative Milk Union etc. These dairy unions purchase milk from village to village through district level Dairy Cooperative Societies (DCS) and then deliver it to KMF. According to the information given on the website of Karnataka Milk Federation it purchases more than 86 lakh kg of milk every day from 26 lakh farmers of 24000 villages. Daily payment to small farmers and producers The most interesting thing about Karnataka Milk Federation i.e. KMF is that it makes daily payments to most of the farmers from whom it procures milk because most of them are small farmers and milk producers. According to the federation it pays more than Rs 28 crore to milk producers every day. Karnataka Milk Federation has a total of 15 units in which it processes and packages milk followed by marketing and sales. Where does Nandini stand compared to Amul? Karnataka Milk Federation produces more than 148 products under the name of Nandini like milk curd butter cheese cheese flavored milk chocolate rusk cookies bread namkeen ice cream etc. The total turnover of KMF in the financial year 2022-23 was Rs 19784 crore whereas the turnover of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation which makes Amul was around Rs 61000 crore. Hostility between Nandini and Amul Amul and Nandini are rivals of each other. Last year when Amul decided to enter the retail market of Karnataka there was a lot of uproar. Political parties in Karnataka termed it as intrusion of the North into the South. Amul vs Nandini became an issue in the state assembly elections also. Karnataka Milk Federation claimed that there has always been an unwritten agreement between the cooperative societies that they will not enter each others market unless there is a shortage or surge in demand. However Amul claimed that the demand for milk in many cities of Karnataka especially Bengaluru is not being met. Therefore it has decided to sell milk through e-commerce platform. Congress also attacked Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on this issue and said that he is conspiring to harm Karnatakas pride Nandini. “This is a direct attempt to destroy the cooperative societies of the South.”