THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The revised prices for milk variants supplied by the Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (Milma) will officially come into effect on Monday.
Under the new pricing structure, consumers will have to shell out Rs 28 for a 500ml packet of homogenised toned milk, which was previously priced at Rs 26.
Milma said the revised prices will temporarily be printed over existing packaging stocks that bear the old rates. Consumers have been requested to cooperate with the transitional arrangement until current packaging stocks are completely exhausted.
The decision to implement a uniform price hike of Rs 4 per litre was finalised during a Milma board meeting held on May 20. In a major relief to primary producers, the federation announced that a significant portion of the increased revenue will directly benefit the dairy sector.
Out of the Rs 4 hike, Rs 3.35 (83.75%) will go directly to the dairy farmers, while 25 paise (6.25%) will be allocated to local dairy cooperative societies. With this adjustment, the base procurement price paid to state farmers will jump from Rs 40.04 to Rs 43.39 per litre.
According to Milma, the price revision became unavoidable due to a steep rise in milk production costs, coupled with low returns that have heavily strained dairy farmers across Kerala.
Furthermore, adverse global geopolitical factors and fluctuating domestic fuel costs have led to a sharp increase in transportation, distribution, and packaging expenses. Supply chain disruptions have also driven up the market price of essential raw materials.
“All these factors have made a compelling case for a modest increase in milk prices to sustain the cooperative dairy sector in the state,” said Milma chairman K S Mani.