Nandini milk has become dearer, and Bangaloreans will have to pay Rs. 4 more for a litre of milk from Saturday, with the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) deciding to hike the price in view of increased production costs. A litre of milk will now cost Rs. 28 in Bangalore.
The price of curd will also go up from Rs. 30 to Rs. 34 a litre. The price of ghee and other milk products will remain the same.
While in parts of south Karnataka, including Bangalore, the milk price has gone up by Rs. 4, the price of milk supplied by federations in Bellary, Dharwad, Belgaum and Dakshina Kannada districts has gone up by Rs. 5. In Bijapur and Gulbarga districts, the price has gone up by Rs. 6. In a press release, the KMF said the hike was inevitable following the increase in production costs.
The unanimous decision on milk price hike was taken at an emergency board meeting on Friday. “This will help farmers who are suffering on account of high cattle-feed costs,” said one of the board members.
The KMF had sought a hike more than a fortnight ago, but the government refused to give its approval. Minister for Animal Husbandry Revu Naik Belamagi told The Hindu that KMF managing director A.S. Premnath had informed him that the milk price would be hiked and its chairman, G. Somashekar Reddy, had taken “telephonic approval” from Mr. Shettar on Friday evening.
Premnath reinstated
In a surprise move, Mr. Premnath was reinstated as managing director of the KMF at the meeting of the board on Friday. He had served twice in the post.
