Karnataka hikes price of Nandini milk by Rs 3 per litre

Nandini milk will get dearer by Rs 3 with the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) deciding to revise prices soon, KMF president Bheema Naik said on Friday.

A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the KMF representatives. The price per litre of regular Nandini toned milk (blue packet) is Rs 39 at present. According to sources in the co-operative department, the new price will be effective from August 1. Also, the price hike will apply only to milk. There will be no change in prices of curds and other products, sources added.

With this, Siddaramaiah has catered to a long-pending demand from the federation for a price hike in milk. Explaining the rationale behind the move, an official in the department said the hike was necessary as the quantity of milk procured by the KMF had decreased. "Private players are paying more to farmers and hence milk procured by KMF has taken a hit. Also, in general, farmers are not finding animal husbandry lucrative, which has impacted milk procurement," the official explained. Milk procured by KMF has come down to 86 lakh litres a day, while last year the peak procurement was 94 lakh litres.

The Rs 3 additional price paid by the consumer will be transferred to the farmer.

Meanwhile, KMF is also believed to have sought an increase in price of milk powder, stating that while the production cost was Rs 348 a kg, the government was giving only Rs 300. However, Siddaramaiah is said to have turned down this demand.

There are 26.6 lakh farmers associated with the KMF, of whom 67% are small and marginal farmers.