New Delhi: Milk suppliers Mother Dairy and Amul have hiked the prices of their milk variants by Rupees 2 which came into effect today. The suppliers cited a rise in input cost for inflating retail prices. The decision to hike milk prices came first by Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets milk under the Amul brand, increased the prices of Amul Gold (full cream) and buffalo milk by Rs 2 per litre each across all markets except for Gujarat.
Amul Gold prices were increased from Rs 61 per litre to Rs 63 per litre while the 500 ml pack would cost Rs 32 against Rs 31 earlier. Buffalo milk prices have been increased from Rs 63 per litre to Rs 65 per litre. The increase is effective from Saturday.
Following Amul’s decision, Mother Dairy also hiked the prices of full cream milk and cow milk by Rupees 2 per litre in Delhi-NCR and some other markets in North India effective from October 16, today.
Mother Dairy's full-cream price has been revised to Rs 63 per litre from Rs 61 per litre while the cow milk rate has been hiked to Rs 55 per litre from Rs 53 per litre.
This is the third time that both the major milk suppliers hiked the milk prices — a move that will impact household budgets. Earlier, both the milk suppliers had raised the prices in March and August.
Dairy firms cited an increase in the procurement cost of raw milk as the reason for the surge in milk prices. Milk producers/farmers have raised rates of raw milk as fodder and cattle feed have become dearer.
"Prices have been increased by Rs 2 per litre for Amul Gold and buffalo milk due to increase in fat prices," Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) managing director R S Sodhi told the news agency.
Sodhi said that the prices have been increased for all markets except Gujarat. Gujarat will undergo a state election soon.
Apart from Gujarat, GCMMF operates mainly in Delhi-NCR, West Bengal, and Mumbai.