New Delhi: Major milk suppliers in the Delhi-NCR region, Amul and Mother Dairy, said they do not have any plan to increase retail milk prices in the near future though procurement cost has gone up. Both Amul and Mother Dairy together sells 60 lakh litres of milk per day in the Delhi-NCR region.
They had last raised the milk prices by Rs 2 per litre in May last year. "The cost of milk production has increased and we are also paying 7-8 per cent more than last year to farmers. But because of low commodity prices in the domestic as well as global markets, it will be difficult to increase consumer or retail milk prices," Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Managing Director R S Sodhi told PTI. The prices are unlikely to increase in May-June, he added. Mother Dairy's Managing Director S Nagarajan, too, said that prices are likely to remain at the current level till September this year.
"Going by the current milk supply situation, we do not see any rise in consumer prices till September," he said, adding that the company is now procuring milk at an average price of Rs 37-39 per litre. However, Nagarajan said the scenario could change if the country receives deficient monsoon. While Amul's Sodhi said the animal-feed cost has increased, resulting in higher cost of milk production. Milk production in India, the world's largest producer, is in the range of 135-140 million tonnes. Full cream milk is at present being sold at Rs 48/litre in the Delhi and its surrounding areas, while toned milk is priced at Rs 38 a litre and double toned milk at Rs 34 per litre.
