BENGALURU: Get ready to pay at least two to three rupees more for a cup of coffee or tea the next time when you visit a hotel. Hoteliers are planning to increase prices as the State government has hiked the price of a litre of milk by Rs 4.
The price hike will affect the hotel industry as they use milk, curd, ghee, paneer and khova more on a day-to-day basis. Even fruit juice centres where milk shakes are prepared will be affected.
Speaking to Express, B Chandrashekar Hebbar, president of the Bruhat Bengaluru Hoteliers Association who also owns the Anna Kuteera chain of hotels in Bengaluru, said, “We have no other option but to increase the price of coffee, tea and badam milk if the price of milk is increased. Otherwise, we cannot maintain quality of coffee or tea.”
Association secretary Rama Murthy said the Rs 4 price hike is not a small amount. Murthy, who owns Konark Hotel, said they will increase prices by next week. “Now, small eateries will increase prices by at least Rs 2 per cup, while bigger hotels increase Rs 3 per cup,” he said
Vasudev Adiga, who heads the Adiga Group of Hotels, said they will wait for a month before hiking prices. “We cannot increase prices all of a sudden. It will affect the flow of customers,” he said. Gupta, who owns S V Butter and Ghee Shop at KR Market, said the price of dairy products will also increase along with the price of milk and said it would affect sales.
Temples Too Not
Spared: Not just hotels, temples will also be affected by the increased milk price. Ramachandra Battacharya, a priest at the Gali Anjaneya Temple said they require 12 litres of milk for abhisheka at the temple. “We have not increased the price of Panchamrutha Seve. We shall discuss with higher authorities and fix the rate in the coming days,” he said.