India's Amul urges Modi to delay plastic straw ban, cites impact on dairy farmers 

India's Amul urges Modi to delay plastic straw ban, cites impact on dairy farmers -letter

India's biggest dairy group Amul has written to the government urging it to delay a planned ban on tiny plastic straws, saying the move will have a "negative impact" on farmers and milk consumption in the world's biggest producer of the commodity, Qazet.az reports.

Amul made its appeal in a letter reviewed by Reuters, dated May 28, that was sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office ahead of a July 1 ban on straws packaged with small packs of juices and dairy products, a market estimated by an industry body to be worth $790 million. Amul sells billions of small dairy cartons with plastic straws attached every year.

The decision has spooked Amul and global drinks majors including PepsiCo Inc and Coca-Cola especially after the government declined to change its stance and asked companies to switch to alternative straws, Reuters previously reported. 

In its letter, signed by Managing Director R.S. Sodhi, the $8 billion Amul group said the straws help promote milk consumption, and called for the ban to be postponed for a year.

A delay would "provide huge relief and benefit" to 100 million dairy farmers who "safeguard our food security in terms of milk and milk products", Sodhi wrote.