Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who held a meeting with presidents of cooperative milk producers’ unions on Saturday, said the final decision on the proposed price revision would be taken after discussions in the state cabinet.
The government will also examine milk prices in neighbouring states, including Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, before taking a decision, Shivakumar said.
Milk unions and their representatives have sought an increase of ₹12 per litre, with a proposal to pass on ₹2 of the increase directly to milk producers. Shivakumar acknowledged that unions were facing financial pressure under the existing pricing structure and said more than 50,000 milk producers had sought a price increase.
Wide variation in union finances
Bengaluru Milk Union (BAMUL) recorded the highest profit at ₹15.73 crore, followed by Hassan at ₹11.72 crore, Mandya at ₹10.69 crore and Shivamogga at ₹9.22 crore during the April-July period.
The unions have attributed the demand for a price revision to rising costs of cattle feed, fodder, medicines, fuel, electricity, raw materials and milk processing. Drought conditions have also affected fodder availability and increased expenses for dairy farmers.
The 16 milk unions currently procure around 1.04 crore litres of milk a day and sell about 62.48 lakh litres of milk and curd. More than 25 lakh milk producers supply milk through over 15,000 producer cooperative societies.
Milk unions have also pointed out that Karnataka’s procurement price is lower than that in some neighbouring states. They want any increase in the retail price to benefit both milk producers and the unions.
Hassan Milk Union president and MLA H D Revanna said that passing the entire increase on to producers, as has happened in the past, could further strain the finances of the unions. He argued that a substantial portion of any price increase should be retained by the unions to meet rising operational costs.
