Brace up for a steep hike in prices of sweets and confectioneries this festive season. The favourites rasogolla, sandesh, chhena poda are all set to become dearer as the dairy farmers on Monday announced that they would raise the prices of cottage cheeses like chhena and paneer along with khoya from Rs 10 to Rs 15 with effect from October 5.
The price of chhena supplied to the sweet makers has been raised from Rs 95 to Rs 105 a kg while paneer would be costlier by Rs 15 to be priced at Rs 130 a kg. The soft Khoya prices would also go up by Rs 12 and cost Rs 132 a kg, the Cuttack District Milk Products Traders Association announced on Monday.
The decision was taken in view of rising cost of milk and fodder. Omfed has recently increased milk prices by Rs 2 a litre with other milk producers and dairy farms following suit. “Fodder prices have shot through the roof. Chokkad which was sold at Rs 560 per 50 kg now costs Rs 730. Even the price of hay has risen substantially,” Association secretary Pradip Behera said.
The impact of the price hike would be felt in many parts of the State as Cuttack is a major supplier of milk products to several districts even as far as Sambalpur. More than 70,000 litres of milk and its products are supplied to the sweet makers and confectioners in the districts of undivided Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Angul, Sambalpur and others, Behera added.