Why now? Milk prices up despite recent hike
Supporting the dairies’ decision to raise the price, the Indian Dairy Association has appealed them to pass on 70-80% revenue coming from the recent price hike to the dairy farmers
image for illustrative purpose
On the eve of the counting of votes after recently concluded general elections, almost all the milk producers in the country, including Amul and Mother’s Dairy, have hiked the price of milk by Rs 2-3 per litre. Supporting the dairies’ decision to raise the price, the Indian Dairy Association has appealed them to pass on 70-80 per cent revenue coming from the recent price hike to the dairy farmers. Of course, the milk prices have gone up immediately the highway toll price hike by Rs 5-25.
The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets its dairy products under the brand name 'Amul', on Sunday last increased the prices of milk by Rs 2 per litre. The new price will be effective from June 3, the company said in a statement.
With the increase in prices, one litre pouch of Amul Taaza milk will now cost Rs 56 instead of Rs 54, while one litre of Amul Gold will be sold at Rs 68 instead of Rs 66, the statement said, adding that one litre pouch of cow milk will now cost Rs 57 an increase of Rs 1. The company also increased the price of buffalo milk by Rs 3 per litre to Rs 73 from Rs 70.
With this, the price of the Amul milk pouch will go up by Rs 2 per litre in all markets across the country. The price of Amul milk across all variants has been raised by Rs 2 per litre with effect from June 3, said Jayen Mehta, MD of GCMMF, which markets the milk and dairy products under the 'Amul' brand.
Of course, this price hike of milk has taken place after 15 months. The last time GCMMF had raised the milk price was in February 2023. The hike is necessitated to compensate farmers for their increased cost of production.
Taking a cue from Amul, New Delhi based Mother Dairy has also increased price of milk in the same range. While tone litre of token milk (bulk vended milk) will now cost Rs 54 from earlier existing price of Rs 52, the toned milk price has gone up by Rs 2 to Rs 56 from Rs 52. Similarly, full creamed milk of Mother Dairy will now be available at Rs 68 per litre from Rs 66. Buffalo milk price has gone up by Rs 2 to Rs 72 per litre from Rs 70.
Talking to Bizz Buzz, Dr RS Sodhi, President, Indian Dairy Association, said, “All the dairies in the country have raised the price by Rs 2-3 a litre after 15 months. Still, the price hike is less than the existing food inflation. In fact the 4-5 per cent price hike was important to increase the income of dairy farmers in the country.”
We do hope that 70-80 per cent of the current price hike will be passed on to the farmers. In fact this is the appeal which has been made by the Association to all the dairy promoters, he said.
