From Monday,pay more for milk

After all the speculations,the city is finally in for another round of hike in milk prices. From Monday,citizens will have to shell out Re 1 more for a litre of cow milk and an additional Rs 2 for a litre of buffalo milk. With the latest hike,the milk prices will be Rs 25 a litre (cow) and Rs 30 a litre (buffalo).

The Pune District Co-operative Milk Producers Federation (Katraj Dairy) announced the decision on Wednesday,after a meeting with various dairies in the region. “The recent hike in milk procurement prices compelled us to hold a meeting urgently.The prices of fodder and cattle food have gone up and the milk producers are now left with no other option but to increase the prices,as some of the private as well as co-operative dairies have already done. Things will be more difficult in a couple of months,with summer arriving as it will lead to scarcity of fodder and other problems,” said Katraj chairman Ramesh Bhujbal.

The dairy operators in Western Maharashtra had,in August 2009,unanimously decided to hike the prices by Rs 2 a litre following the state cabinet decision to increase milk procurement rates.