Omfed milk dearer by Rs. 2

BHUBANESWAR: Milk is all set to become dearer from October 11 as Omfed has  decided to jack up prices by Rs. 2 per litre.   Consumers will have to pay ` 24 per litre of toned milk against the prevailing price of Rs. 22. The price of double toned milk has also been raised from Rs. 20 to Rs. 22. Making the announcement here on Friday, Omfed Chairman Satyabrata Sahu said the hike was unavoidable due to circumstances  like steep escalation in costs of inputs, raw materials, electricity, packaging and transportation.  The decision has been taken keeping in mind the interests of around 2,45,594 milk farmers registered with the Federation. The bulk of the hike would go to individual farmers. They would now be paid Rs. 1.75 paise more per litre of milk from the raised amount. The last hike was effected in January last year when milk prices were raised by Rs. 2. Procurement prices for farmers had then been raised from Rs. 11.76 to ` Rs. 13.76.   Offering better procurement prices to farmers would not only bring improvement in milk production and quality, it would also encourage youths to take to dairy farming, Sahu said.