New Delhi, August 03, 2023: The hike in the prices of Nandini milk by ₹3 per litre came into effect from Tuesday (August 1), according to the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).
The development comes after the KMF, which is reeling under losses due to rise in procurement costs, electricity charges and lumpy skin disease affecting the cattle, had demanded the state government to increase the prices by ₹5 per litre.
However, during a meeting with chief minister Siddaramaiah the milk federation was asked to settle for hike of ₹3 per litre. The state cabinet, which met on July 27, gave nod to the proposal to increase the milk prices.
Under the revised prices, the toned milk that was previously sold at ₹39, will now cost ₹42 per litre, while the homogenised milk, earlier sold at ₹40, will cost ₹43. The pasteurised milk will now be available at ₹46 instead of the earlier price of ₹43 and the Shubham special milk has been increased from ₹45 to ₹48 per litre.
Due to the increase in milk prices, the curd prices have also been hiked by ₹3 to ₹50 per kg, while a packet of 200 ml butter milk has been increased from ₹8 to ₹9.
The KMF, in a press statement, said that the hike in milk prices was necessary and was done with the primary focus on ensuring that the entire benefit of dairy farming reaches the milk producers in the state. According to KMF, in 2022, more than 35,000 farmers had abandoned dairy farming due to issues like delay in procurement prices of milk, unavailability of fodder, rise in maintenance cost, among others according to the reports published in hindustantimes.com.
Further, the KMF added that despite the hike in prices, the price of Nandini milk in Karnataka was cheaper as compared to the neighbouring states. “Milk is being sold at ₹50 in Kerala, ₹54 in Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra, and at ₹56 in Andhra Pradesh against Karnataka’s revised prices of ₹42,” the KMF pointed out.
Reacting to the hike in milk prices, Mary, a housekeeper, said, “The hike in milk prices will affect everyone, especially the poor. They [the state government] said they would provide a lot of schemes, and in turn, is hiking prices of day-to-day commodities. Food grains, vegetables, everything is getting costlier. We didn’t want this.”
“These are things we need to buy and use every day. For people like us, who keep a strict budget to run the household, the hike in milk prices is a huge blow. We don’t want any freebies. I hope the prices of other commodities don’t get costlier,” Bhagya, a cook, said.
Amid the rise in milk prices, the hotel owners’ association in the state has also decided to hike the food prices by 10-20% from Tuesday. According to Bruhat Bengaluru Hotels Association president, PC Rao, the prices have been increased due to a rise in the prices of essential commodities.
