Low procurement, fodder shortage forced to hike milk prices: Mother Dairy

New Delhi [India], February 3 (ANI): Mother Dairy on Friday said that milk price was hiked taking into account mainly the availability of milk and fodder shortage.

"The current milk availability scenario, fodder shortage and other factors have led to lower milk procurement during the ongoing flush season, forcing the raw milk prices to remain high, which has also been widely reported in the media," a Mother Dairy spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson added the dairy products retailer is keeping a "close watch" on the situation and will take a call as the situation warrants.

In the latest, Mother Dairy raised the price of its full cream milk offerings from Rs 64 per litre to Rs 66 per litre in Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) in late 2022.

It was the fifth upward revision in milk prices, an essential food item, in 2022. The earlier revisions were done in March, August, October, and November.

"It is an unprecedented year for the dairy industry. We have been witnessing a significant increase in demand of milk and milk products from both consumers and institutions, even after festivals. On the other hand, procurement of raw milk has also not picked up after Diwali as was anticipated. The procurement prices of raw milk have gone up by about 24 per cent over last year due to higher input costs, heatwave conditions, etc," it had then said. (ANI)