'Rs 4 hike in milk, curd prices from April 1 to encourage dairy farming': Karnataka Minister

Karnataka: The Siddaramaiah government on Thursday hiked the price of Nandini milk, produced by the Karnataka Milk Federation, by Rs 4 per liter. The price of curd has also been hiked by Rs 4 per kg by the Cabinet. The hike comes before the Ugadi festival, which is celebrated throughout Karnataka with great pomp on March 30. With this increase, the cost of coffee, tea and all milk items in hotels and confectionery shops will go up sharply. The KMF and farmers' association have been asking for an increase of Rs 5 per litre. But the government has taken a decision to raise the price of milk by Rs 4

New Prices for Nandini Milk

Following this, the most selling blue packet of one litre Nandini milk will now be priced at Rs 48 from Rs 44. Likewise, the homogenized packed of one litre will be priced at Rs 47, the green packed at Rs 50 and the saffron packet at Rs 52. The curd will now be priced at Rs 54 from Rs 50 per kg. Earlier, CM Siddaramaiah had introduced the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini brand milk products in the Delhi-NCR region at a price slightly lower than the competition to get a toehold in the market.

KMF's expansion plans

The cooperative will sell four variants of cow milk, curd, and buttermilk at competitive prices undercutting market leaders such as Mother Dairy and Amul. The federation now commands 100 lakh litres of milk on a daily basis, out of which 60 lakh litres is consumed locally, leaving a buffer of 40 lakh litres for venturing into new markets. Operating through a strong infrastructure of 26.76 lakh milk producers, 15,737 dairy cooperative societies, and 15 district milk unions, the KMF has a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and exports dairy products to more than 25 countries.