Nandini products on display at a store.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: After the fuel price hike, citizens will have to shell out more for Nandini milk sachets, effective from Wednesday, but the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) has said that the rise in the prices will be more than compensated by providing an additional 50 ml of the product in every pouch.
The KMF announced on Tuesday that the price of all variants of milk will go up by Rs 2. However, the KMF maintained that this was not a price hike but a revision in the supply and pricing mechanism as both its 500 ml and 1 litre sachets will now carry 550ml and 1050 ml of milk, respectively.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah defended the KMF’s decision stating that the decision was taken to ensure that the additional milk produced by the dairy farmers is not rejected at collection centers. “Compared to last year, milk production in the state has increased by 15per cent.
Last year, the average daily production was 90 lakh liters and this year, it has increased to an average of 99 lakh liters per day. To accommodate this surplus production and ensure farmers are not turned away, KMF has decided to increase the milk content in each packet by 50 ml, with only a Rs 2 charge for the additional milk. There is no increase in the per unit price of milk,” Siddaramaiah explained.
According to a statement by KMF, Karnataka is the second-highest producer of milk in India and the highest producer in South India. “We will soon hit a production of one crore litres a day. Close to 27 lakh farmers are supplying milk to KMF and the federation is bound to ensure the welfare of both the farmers and the consumers,” a statement by KMF said.
The statement also pointed out that even after the increase in rates, the price of milk in Karnataka is way less than the prices being charged in other states. For instance, in Kerala, the price of one litre of milk by Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation) stands at Rs 52 and similarly in Gujarat, Amul charges close to Rs 56 per litre of milk.
At present, per litre of regular Nandini toned milk (blue packet) is priced at Rs 42 and this will go up to Rs 44. The price revision is the second within a year and the third in the last 18 months. In November 2022, KMF had revised the milk prices and hiked it by Rs 3. Similarly, in July 2023, the prices were again increased by Rs 3.