Jamshedpur: The Bihar State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited (Comfed) that sells packaged pasteurised milk under the brand Sudha in the State has increased prices of its milk variant products with effect from today. The milk prices have been hiked by Rs 2 per litre.
Standard milk will now be available at Rs 36 per litre (half litre price Rs 18), toned milk will cost Rs 32 (half litre price Rs 17) and full cream will cost Rs 42 (half litre Rs 21).
While 100 gm of sweet curd will now cost Rs 12 (earlier Rs 10) and 100 gm of plain curd will cost Rs 20 (earlier Rs 18), 200gm of paneer, which was earlier priced at Rs 49, will cost Rs 50.
A spokesperson of the Bihar State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited said milk prices have increased due to many factors.
�The situation is beyond our control. Rise in prices of cattle feed, dry and green fodder and diesel is the main reason. Transportation cost has gone up. Overall fodder prices have increased.
We have already increased payment to milk producers by Rs 2.46 per litre from December 1 to help them cope with rise in milk production,� said an official. Sudha Dairy supplies around 3.5 lakhs litres of milk across Jharkhand, with its customer count highest in Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Dhanbad and Bokaro. It has three processing plants � one each in Ranchi, Bokaro and Adityapur near Jamshedpur.
The Adityapur plant has the highest processing and packaging capacity of 1.3 lakh litres a day. The dairy units also prepare a host of milk products such as ghee, butter, peda, milkcake, paneer and lassi.
Sashi Bhusan Pandey, the owner of a Sudha Dairy outlet at Jugsalai, said this was the fourth hike in a year and he might lose customers to other dairies such as Nand (in East Singhbhum) and suppliers from local khatals.
Their kitchen budget set to soar, homemakers are understandably not happy. �The price of milk is ever increasing. This is must stop if Sudha doesn�t want us to switch loyalties,� said Anita Nag of Bistupur.
Though sceptical, Smita Ganguly of Baridih, Jamshedpur, said she would stick to the brand. �We have been drinking Sudha milk for years.
I cannot risk the health of my family members by buying full cream milk from khatals. But, such hikes in the middle of a month upset our budget. Who will understand this?� she said.
