The price of milk will rise by 10-15 per cent from April in West Bengal. This is because eastern India is dependent mainly on skimmed milk powder for its milk production and the price of skimmed milk powder has increased by 100 per cent in the past three months.
As a result, milk price of various brands has already gone up by Rs. 5 to Rs 6 in December and is set to increase again. Industry insiders say that the price of skimmed milk powder had gone up to Rs. 350 per kg from Rs. 150 per kg before settling at Rs. 300 per kg. Also, April to October is the lean period in milk production in the country’s east and Northeast. Thus, the effect of price hike of skimmed milk powder will be more pronounced due to the combined effect of the two.
International price of skimmed milk powder is down to Rs. 200 due to reduced demand in China following the Coronavirus outbreak. Import of milk powder would have helped lowering the rates inside the country but the Centre is yet not ready to allow its import. To normalise prices, import of 50,000 to one lakh million tonnes of powder at the international rate is needed, officials of National Dairy Development Board said.
Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets milk under the brand name Amul is the largest supplier of skimmed milk powder in India and has cited the increase in prices of livestock feed by 35 per cent in recent times alongside other expenses as the reason behind price hike.
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