October 1, 2013

Milk price in India's Guwahati City rises

By October 1, 2013, milk price in India's Guwahati City is set for the second hike in nine months as dairy farmers have decided to increase the price by INR4/litre (US$0.06).

Citing continuous increase in production cost, the Brihattar Guwahati Go Palak Sanstha, the leading union of dairy farmers in the city, has decided to sell milk to retail sellers at INR40/litre (US$0.64) from October 1. This will hike the retail milk price in the city by INR4 (US$0.06), with prices ranging between INR45 (US$0.72) and INR50 (US$0.80), according to a source.

The dairy farmers had hiked the price from INR33 (US$0.53) to INR36/litre (US$0.58) in December 2012. This had led to retail milk sellers increasing the price to about INR40 (US$0.64).

The proposed hike by the dairy farmers is going to have a big impact in milk supply in the city and its outskirts. The dairy farms of Guwahati supply about 13,000 litres milk every day.

"The hike is going to make milk dearer for the common people. The government should intervene as the dairy farmers are increasing the prices at their own will. No one knows if the production cost has really gone up to the extent they claim," said Priyanka Saikia, a resident of Ganeshguri in the city.