TN govt hikes milk prices by Rs 10 a litre

, Oct 25: The

government today announced a rise in

prices by Rs 10 a litre, following demands from milk producers to increase the procurement price.

The state government had increased milk prices three years ago. "... there should not be any disruption in the payments made to milk producers as well as no compromise on the quality of milk supplied to consumers, the government is forced to announce this hike, after a period of three years,"

Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said in a statement. The government was forced to hike the price of one litre toned milk from Rs 24 to Rs 34, he said. Following the demands of over 22.5 lakh milk producers in the state, who cite rise in fodder cost, cattle price and other costs as reasons, the government has also increased the milk procurement price by Rs 5 and Rs 4 for cow and buffalo milk respectively.

With the new announcement, procurement price for cow and buffalo milk would be Rs 28 from Rs 23 and Rs 35 from Rs 31 respectively, he said, adding, this would come into force by November 1 this year.

Panneerselvam also recalled the hike in procurement price of milk by Rs 3 since January 1 this year, which was not followed by any hike in milk price to consumers. He blamed the previous DMK government for having left the state-run milk supplier Aavin in a bad financial status.

PTI