As a New Year gift, the Bangalore District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union has announced a hike of Rs. 2 for every litre of milk purchased from producers. With this, the producers will get Rs. 23 for every litre of milk they sell to the union from January 1, 2014.
The union has also announced an incentive of 15 paise to the staff of the cooperative societies for every litre of milk they purchase from the producers, with an additional two paisa to the cooperative society, union president Ulluru C. Manjunath said here on Monday.
Though the union has hiked the purchasing price, Mr. Manjunath clarified that there was no plan to hike the price of milk sold to consumers. The union will shoulder the burden of Rs. 21.62 crore a year on account of the hike.
The union has decided to help the milk producers, who have lost their cattle to foot and mouth disease, by announcing a compensation of Rs. 10,000 for the death of a cow and Rs. 3,000 for a calf. It has already handed over Rs. 78.43 lakh to the Department of Animal Husbandry to identify such cases and disburse the amount, Mr. Manjunath said.
Mr. Manjunath said a milk powder producing plant would soon be set up in Ramanagaram town. Though the government has given a nod for the project, the union is waiting for grants to begin the works, he said.
A packaging unit is to be established in Ejipura at a cost of Rs. 20 crore. The plant is likely to be operational by March 2014, he said.
Due to the recent hike in milk prices, the union is making a profit of Rs. 70 crore a year. Though the union has incurred a loss due to the government’s Ksheera Bhagya scheme, it is recovering losses from other sources, he said.