From Saturday, the price of Nandini milk will go up by ₹2 a litre. The price of a litre of curd will also increase by ₹2. After nearly a fortnight of talks with the State government, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) on Thursday announced the increase.
KMF chairman Balachandra Jarkiholi defended the hike, calling it inevitable given the increasing input costs for farmers.
The current price of milk ranges from ₹35 to ₹37 a litre in south Karnataka and north Karnataka for regular milk, while the special milk with higher fat content is sold at ₹42 a litre. The current cost of curd is ₹42 a litre.
While the district milk unions, citing rising input costs in milk production, had demanded a hike in the range of ₹2 to ₹4, the KMF had sought the government’s approval for an increase of ₹3 a litre. The government approved an increase of ₹2. According to KMF sources, ₹1 of the additional amount per litre will be passed on to the farmer.
In the last four years, this is the third hike by KMF. After effecting a hike of ₹4 a litre in January 2016, KMF increased the price of milk by ₹2 and ₹1 per litre in South and North Karnataka respectively in April 2017. Currently, a litre of milk costs in the range of ₹35 to ₹37 in the State.
A senior KMF official said: “Despite the increase, the price of Nandini brand of milk will still be far cheaper than the rest. It will be cheaper by a minimum of ₹8 per litre when compared to the price of private milk dairies in the State or in comparison with prevailing milk price in neighbouring States.”
