Date:13/12/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/13/stories/2007121350100100.htm

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Nandini milk to cost more from today

Special Correspondent

KMF has increased the price of milk by Rs. 2 a litre and curd by Rs. 4 a litre

Bangalore: The price of Nandini milk will go up by Rs. 2 a litre with effect from Thursday. Curd will be dearer by Rs. 2 for half a litre.

Karnataka Milk Federation managing director I.R. Ramalinge Gowda, who announced this here on Wednesday, told presspersons that the price increase was inevitable to sustain the dairy industry and ensure a fair price to dairy farmers.

Although there were no plans now to revise the price of other milk products of Nandini, Mr. Gowda did not rule out the possibility of a revision later.

While the demand for milk was rising in cities, such as Bangalore, the cost of production too had gone up at every step, squeezing the profit margin and causing a slump in production, Mr. Gowda said.

As against the projected procurement of 34 lakh litres a day during the peak months of November, December and January, current procurement was only 31.30 lakh litres, he said.

Dairy farming had to be encouraged to make the industry more sustainable, a large part of the price increase would be passed on to farmers, Mr. Gowda said.

An average of Rs. 1. 20 to Rs. 1. 30 out of the Rs. 2 increase was expected to reach farmers. When the KMF revised prices last December by Re. 1, the entire amount was passed on to farmers.

The federation, he said, would invest heavily on refurbishing the technology of processing and storage. Chilling centres, established 20 years ago, were in urgent need of repair and modernisation, he said.

Better curd

Speaking about other projects of the KMF, Mr. Gowda said the federation would soon be improving the making and packaging of curd. It would be thicker and packed in plastic containers. Karnataka, he added, was the highest consumer of packaged curd in the country. The processing capacity of the Mother Diary in Bangalore would be increased with an outlay of Rs. 35 crore, and a new Nandini milk production unit would be set up in the city at a cost of Rs. 10 crore. The KMF planned to release Nandini ice-cream in new flavours.

Hassan district was slated for big investment in the dairy sector.

There were plans to establish a cattle feed plant at an outlay of Rs. 30 crore and a complete milk products plant at a cost of Rs. 72 crore, he said.