BENGALURU: Come March, tea, coffee, curd and other milk items will cost more, with the cost of milk per litre set to be hiked. Soon after the state budget on March 7, the price of a litre of Nandini milk will increase by Rs 5. The quantity of milk will also be reduced from the existing 1,050 ml to one litre. With this, the cost of a litre of Nandini toned milk will increase to Rs 47.
This will be the next big hike the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) has initiated in the last three years. Earlier, in 2022, the milk price per litre was hiked by Rs 3 per litre. In 2024, the KMF hiked the milk price by Rs 2 per packet and increased the quantity per packet by 50ml. However, KMF continues to maintain that the price rise in 2024 was not a hike as the quantity of milk supplied had also increased.
The hike in milk prices will be another blow to citizens after the coffee brewers association announced increasing the price of coffee powder by Rs 200 per kg by March. The ticket rates of BMTC buses and Namma Metro have also been hiked. The state government is also working on increasing the water tariff. The electricity supply companies (escoms) have also appealed to the Karnataka Electricity Commission, to hike the power tariff by 67 paise for the coming financial year.
KMF Managing Director B Shivaswamy told The New Indian Express, the farmers have demanded a Rs 5/litre hike. The final decision now rests with the chief minister. It will come into effect after the state budget.
“Earlier, we were procuring 85-89 lakh litres a day. It had also gone up to 99 lakh litres a day and more. Now, we are getting 79-81 lakh litres a day, so the additional milk supplied to consumers will stop,” Shivaswamy said, adding that the hiked milk price in Karnataka of Rs 47 will still be less than that of other brands in Karnataka and other states, besides those sold online.
The KMF is now holding talks with farmer unions, milk unions, employees associations and other stakeholders on the cost-sharing model of the hiked milk price. “Ideally, the increased cost should go to the farmers, but in recent times, the employees union have raised financial concerns over multiple issues, including the 7th Pay Commission wages and pensions. All this needs to be calculated,” a KMF official said, requesting anonymity.