BENGALURU: The Karnataka Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, is likely to take up proposals to hike milk prices and bus fares at its meeting on Tuesday. The previous meeting, scheduled for last Thursday, was deferred after Shivakumar and his Cabinet colleagues staged a protest at the office of Chief Electoral Officer in Bengaluru over alleged misuse of Form 7 applications for voter deletion.
The 16 cooperative milk unions under the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) have sought a Rs 12 per litre increase, citing rising cattle-feed and milk procurement costs. Union presidents have urged the State Government to approve the hike to offset the additional financial burden on dairy farmers and unions.
The financial performance of the 16 milk unions between April and July showed that 11 unions recorded profits while five reported losses. Bengaluru’s BAMUL posted the highest profit at Rs 15.73 crore, while Chikkaballapur recorded the highest loss at Rs 11.88 crore, followed by Kolar’s Rs 5.48 crore loss.
The Cabinet is also expected to consider a revision of bus fares. Fares have remained unchanged for nearly two years, while the four state-run transport corporations have continued to incur losses amid rising operating costs, including diesel prices.
The Public Transport Fare Regulatory Committee, headed by retired IAS officer Atul Kumar Tiwari, has submitted its recommendations on fare revision. If approved by the Cabinet, the hike could come into effect this month. The four transport corporations recorded a combined loss of Rs 1,354.48 crore in 2023-24, Rs 842 crore in 2024-25 and Rs 1,527 crore in 2025-26. In the latest fiscal, their combined revenue stood at Rs 14,991 crore against expenditure of Rs 16,519 crore.
A decision on both the fare and milk price proposals is expected at Tuesday’s meeting.