Kalaburagi, Bidar and Yadgir Co-operative Milk Producers Societies Union Limited has decided to transfer ₹ 2 crore profit to milk producers by increasing milk price, union president R.K. Patil has said.
Addressing a media conference in Kalaburagi on Monday, Mr. Patil said that the union had decided to increase the price for cow milk by ₹ 2 a litre and buffalo milk by ₹ 3 a litre. The new rates will come into effect on Tuesday.
The increase will now take the price of cow milk to ₹ 27.60 a litre and buffalo milk to ₹ 34.80 a litre.
“This is the biggest increase in milk rate in the last 25 years. We could have kept the profit with the union for other purposes. But, we have decided to disburse it among milk producers in the form of increasing milk rate for safeguarding their interests,” Mr. Patil said. Mr. Patil said that, except for the Dakshina Kannada Milk Union, no other union has increased milk rate as much as the Kalaburagi union has done.
“The Kalaburagi Milk Union is doing better these days. The supply of milk products by private suppliers from Maharashtra was disturbed during the COVID-19 lockdown and consumers shifted to Nandini products from the Kalaburagi Milk Union. And, consumers continue to purchase Nandini products even after the lockdown. This is the major reason for the profit,” Mr. Patil said.
He said that the union had slashed fodder price as well to help milk producers during summer.
“At present, the union collects 51,000 litres of milk every day. Production is expected to come down in the summer as there will be scarcity of fodder. That is why we have slashed fodder price from ₹ 18,900 a tonne to ₹ 17,900 a tonne. This is a great relief for the producers,” he said.
When asked whether the union had any plans to transfer the profit to consumers, Mr. Patil said that the union will bring down the price of Nandini products if the profits further go up.
“We are committed to safeguarding the interests of both producers and consumers,” he said.
