Amul hikes milk prices again

Be ready to pay more for food items that use milk because another hike in milk prices has just been announced. The Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets milk and milk products under the Amul brand, has decided to increase milk prices from Sunday. The price of Amul Gold has been increased from Rs32 per litre to Rs34 per litre, while the prices of other brands - Shakti, Taaza and Slim & Trim - are up by Re1. Hence, Amul Shakti will cost Rs31 per litre from Sunday.
The managing director of GCMMF, RS Sodhi, said.

that the federation had increased milk procurement prices paid to cattle owners. "As the commission paid to cattle owners has gone up, we had to increase milk prices," said Sodhi.

In last one year, milk prices have gone up by more than 20%. With GCMMF increasing milk prices four times, the price of Amul milk has risen by 24.42% (or Rs6 per litre) in the last one year. In the first quarter of 2010, Amul Gold was sold at Rs28 per litre. This year, the ice-cream industry has already increased prices by 7% to 12%.

With 13 milk unions in Gujarat, the turnover of GCMMF in 2009-10 was Rs8,005 crore. The federation has set a target of increasing the turnover to Rs27,000 crore by 2020.