SRINAGAR: The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets Amul milk and milk products, has announced a price increase of Rs 2 to Rs 4 per litre across its major fresh pouch milk variants in markets across India, with the revised rates coming into effect from Thursday, November 12.
Under the revised pricing, Amul Taaza toned milk, containing 3 per cent milk fat, will cost Rs 2 more per litre, marking an increase of 3.3 per cent. The price of Amul Gold milk, which contains 6 per cent milk fat, has been increased by Rs 4 per litre, representing a hike of 5.5 per cent.
The federation said the revision had been necessitated by a substantial increase in milk production and processing costs over the past year. It cited rising prices of green and dry fodder, cattle feed ingredients, including oil cake, maize and molasses, as well as packaging material and fuel.
GCMMF also pointed to challenging environmental conditions, particularly low and uneven rainfall in Gujarat and several other parts of the country, which it said had added to the difficulties faced by dairy farmers.
“In the current challenging environmental circumstances due to low and uneven rainfall in Gujarat as well as many parts of India, we are constrained to increase the consumer price of milk to pay better prices to our producers and support them in these difficult times,” the federation said in a statement.
According to GCMMF, its member unions have already increased the procurement prices paid to milk producers by 4 to 5 per cent over the past year. The latest increase in consumer prices is intended to provide further financial support to dairy farmers amid rising production expenses.
The federation said approximately 80 per cent of the revenue generated through the Amul cooperative structure is returned to its 36 lakh milk producers. It added that a major portion of the additional revenue from the latest price revision would be passed on to farmers.
The increase is expected to raise household expenditure on packaged milk, an everyday essential for millions of consumers. However, the federation maintained that the revision was necessary to balance rising production costs with the need to ensure better returns to dairy farmers.
The revised prices will apply to major fresh pouch milk variants across Amul’s markets in India from November 12.
