Karnataka: Nandini Milk Set To Increase Prices, Will Make Changes In Packet Quantity

Karnataka’s milk federation, popularly called Nandini, is all set to increase the volume of milk in the 500 ml and 1 litre milk packets by 50 ml and hike the price per packet by Rs 2. This will come into effect from June 26.

Speaking to News18, Managing Director of Nandini (KMF), M.K. Jagadish explained that the production of milk in Karnataka has been very high. To ensure there is no wastage, after producing products like curd, ghee, ice cream, chocolates, milk powder, condensed milk, paneer, etc., KMF still has a large amount of excess milk to spare.

“We produce close to 1 crore litres of milk a day. The consumption of milk is around 45 lakh litres, and the rest is converted into products. We decided instead of wastage, why not give the consumers the advantage of more milk, and price it slightly more so that the farmers are also benefited by it,” said Jagadish. He added that Nandini has the second-largest cooperative inventory in India with a farmer-friendly policy to empower milk farmers in the state.

With this, the price of toned milk, which was Rs 39 and was hiked to Rs 42 last year, will now cost Rs 51, which is much lower than the price of milk in other states, which varies from Rs 54 to Rs 56 per litre, according to government officials.

Jagdish also added that the excess milk produced by the farmers was being thrown away, so KMF came up with the idea of providing more milk to the consumers at a reasonable price.

In July last year, the Siddaramaiah government had announced an increase in the price of Nandini milk by Rs 3 per litre, stating that the milk producers had a long-pending demand to make the price of the state cooperative competitive, as it was falling short against an increasing average national rate.

The government had said that the price of milk was one of the lowest in the country at the time and the money would be ‘given directly to the farmers.’

Soon after the decision was announced, the opposition BJP lashed out at the Congress government.

BJP’s State President Vijayendra Yediyurappa said that the latest decision to hike the milk price will cost very dearly to poor, struggling families who are already facing the daunting task of making ends meet.

BJP’s National Information & Technology Department in-charge Amit Malviya also reacted to the latest development and highlighted that the decision comes soon after the Congress-run Karnataka government increased petrol price by 3 rupees and diesel by 3.5 per litre.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah clarified that there will be no increase in Milk Prices per unit, but only an increase in the volume per packet with a proportionate increase in the price for the increased volume.

He further said, “When our government came into power, the average daily milk collection in the state was around 72 lakh liters. We implemented a Rs. 3 increase in the milk price, directing the additional funds directly to farmers, making dairy farming more profitable. Additionally, good rainfall this year has ensured ample green fodder for cattle. Due to these factors, milk production has now reached nearly 1 Crore liters per day.

To handle this increased production and ensure it is beneficial for both farmers and consumers, KMF has made this decision.”

Nandini is a very popular brand and is also the sponsor for the Ireland and Scotland teams in the T20. They had earlier sponsored the Bengaluru Bulls team in the Pro Kabaddi league as well.