Coimbatore: A Telangana-based private firm has acquired the tender floated by the Southern Railway to sell milk in two parlours on platform one and three at Coimbatore Railway Station on Saturday.
Coimbatore: A Telangana-based private firm has acquired the tender floated by the Southern Railway to sell milk in two parlours on platform one and three at Coimbatore Railway Station on Saturday.
However, people from various sections of the society have expressed their dissatisfaction over the replacement of Aavin. According to sources, the State-owned milk co-operative society ‘Aavin’ has been selling in these two parlours for the last 20 years. However, when its tender period expired in November 2018, the Southern Railway had floated a new one.
This was reportedly acquired by Venkateshwara Food, a private company from Telangana.
"Once in four years, the Southern Railway Zone’s Salem division floats tenders for catering services, milk parlours, book stall and other shops on the station platforms,” said a source in the Railway department.
When asked, district Aavin chairman K P Raju said, "Everyday, we used to supply 500 litres of milk to Aavin parlours in Coimbatore railway station. During the tender, we had quoted `4 lakhs. However, the private company from Telangana got the license for `8 lakhs. Following this, we have decided to make up for loss by increasing our supply to Kerala. For now, we have planned to increase milk supply to Kerala to 15,600 litres.”
Some passengers, who regularly consumed milk from Aavin outlet said that they would miss the favourite brand. A few of them also wished for Aavin’s comeback.