Maharashtra school milk scheme shifts 65,000 students to Tetra Pak cartons
Maharashtra's Social Justice and Special Assistance Department has centralised school milk supply for more than 65,000 students onto 200 ml aseptic Tetra Pak cartons of flavoured milk, ending local fresh-milk sourcing by individual hostels and schools. Parag Milk Foods and the Warana dairy cooperative won a three-year e-tender contract at USD 0.28 (INR 26.40) per pack, split by administrative division. Nutritional experts and student groups have questioned the switch from fresh to flavoured milk on health and cost grounds.
Why this mattersThe programme gives organised dairies a large, fixed-price institutional outlet for UHT aseptic cartons, reinforcing demand for cold-chain-free packaging in public procurement.
- The scheme, launched 15 September 2026, covers more than 65,000 students in 449 government hostels and 92 residential schools in Maharashtra.
- Parag Milk Foods and the Warana dairy cooperative won a three-year supply contract at USD 0.28 (INR 26.40) per 200 ml aseptic carton.
- Parag Milk Foods serves the Mumbai, Nashik, Pune and Latur divisions; Warana serves Nagpur, Amravati and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
- The scheme replaces local fresh-milk procurement by individual institutions with centralised aseptic flavoured-milk cartons.
- The approved price and procurement conditions are fixed for three years with no provision for interim rate changes.
- Nutritional experts and student-advocacy groups have objected to the shift from fresh to flavoured, sweetened milk.
Sources
dairynews.today