<p>The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is all set to hike prices of the popular Nandini brand of milk either in February or March.<br /><br />Announcing this on the sidelines of a programme to launch several new Nandini products for Sankranti here on Friday, KMF Chairman G Somashekara Reddy said the federation plans to increase the milk prices as market rates of several commodities have gone up considerably.<br /><br />Reddy said Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had agreed to the price hike in the interests of dairy farmers. “There is a strong demand from dairy farmers’ societies to increase the milk procurement cost due to the rise in prices of many commodities. Some farmers have even demanded a hike of Rs 5 per litre. But we are still in the process of assessing the cost of procurement as well as the selling price of milk. Tentatively, there may be an increase by <br />Rs 2,” he said.<br /><br />Currently, the procurement cost of milk is Rs 17.56 per litre. With the government’s support price, a litre costs around Rs 18.50. If there is an increase of Rs 2, the cost of a litre of milk will go up to Rs 20.50. The KMF is calculating the cost and will announce the new prices either in February or March.<br /><br />Reddy also announced that the KMF is in the process of setting up a mega dairy, similar to a unit in Sweden, at a cost of Rs 80 crore.<br /><br />The KMF, under the brand name Nandini, on Friday launched 10 new products, including milk under the names of Sampoorna, Smart, Slim, Goodlife and Goodlife UHT (Ultra High Temperature), Low Fat UHT Cream, Sugar Free Pro-Biotic Frozen Food, Sugar Free Peda, Rossogulla, Cheddar Cheese, Dry Fruits burfi and Khova Jamun.</p>
<p>The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is all set to hike prices of the popular Nandini brand of milk either in February or March.<br /><br />Announcing this on the sidelines of a programme to launch several new Nandini products for Sankranti here on Friday, KMF Chairman G Somashekara Reddy said the federation plans to increase the milk prices as market rates of several commodities have gone up considerably.<br /><br />Reddy said Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa had agreed to the price hike in the interests of dairy farmers. “There is a strong demand from dairy farmers’ societies to increase the milk procurement cost due to the rise in prices of many commodities. Some farmers have even demanded a hike of Rs 5 per litre. But we are still in the process of assessing the cost of procurement as well as the selling price of milk. Tentatively, there may be an increase by <br />Rs 2,” he said.<br /><br />Currently, the procurement cost of milk is Rs 17.56 per litre. With the government’s support price, a litre costs around Rs 18.50. If there is an increase of Rs 2, the cost of a litre of milk will go up to Rs 20.50. The KMF is calculating the cost and will announce the new prices either in February or March.<br /><br />Reddy also announced that the KMF is in the process of setting up a mega dairy, similar to a unit in Sweden, at a cost of Rs 80 crore.<br /><br />The KMF, under the brand name Nandini, on Friday launched 10 new products, including milk under the names of Sampoorna, Smart, Slim, Goodlife and Goodlife UHT (Ultra High Temperature), Low Fat UHT Cream, Sugar Free Pro-Biotic Frozen Food, Sugar Free Peda, Rossogulla, Cheddar Cheese, Dry Fruits burfi and Khova Jamun.</p>
