Maharashtra to raise milk prices by Rs 2 per litre from Aug 11
Mumbai, Aug 9
Milk prices in Maharashtra will increase by Rs 2 per litre for both cow and buffalo milk from August 11 after the Milk Producers and Processors Welfare Association decided to revise retail rates, a move that is expected to impact consumers across the state.
The price hike comes amid ongoing debates over milk pricing and efforts to balance the interests of dairy farmers with those of consumers facing rising household expenses.
Producers and processors have argued that higher procurement and operational costs have necessitated the increase.
The development follows the Centre's recent clarification that it has no proposal to introduce a Minimum Support Price (MSP) for milk, maintaining that prices will continue to be determined by cooperatives and private dairies based on prevailing market conditions.
In a written reply to a starred question in the Lok Sabha last month, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh, also known as Lalan Singh, said milk pricing remains a market-driven process and that the government is not considering an MSP mechanism for the sector.
The minister said the government is implementing a range of measures aimed at safeguarding dairy farmers' interests, stabilising milk prices, protecting consumers and strengthening quality monitoring across the dairy value chain.
According to the government, efforts are underway to bring more producers into the organised dairy sector.
As of March 2026, a total of 36,283 new village-level Dairy Cooperative Societies had been established, while 31,150 existing societies had been strengthened.
The government also created milk chilling capacity of 168 lakh litres per day and distributed 76,748 milk quality testing devices across the country.
In addition, projects with a combined milk processing and value-addition capacity of 418 lakh litres per day have been approved to enhance infrastructure and improve efficiency in the dairy sector.
The government highlighted the strong growth in India's milk production over the past decade.
Milk output rose to 248 million metric tonnes in 2024-25 from 146 million metric tonnes in 2014-15, registering an increase of about 69 per cent.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Finally someone is thinking about the farmers! We keep demanding cheap milk but forget the hard work behind it. My uncle is a dairy farmer in Nashik - his cattle feed costs have doubled in three years, veterinary expenses are rising, and he can barely break even. If this small hike helps him survive, I'm all for it. Respect to our annadata! 💪🐄
I'm an NRI living in the US and always amazed at how cheap milk is in India, honestly. Here we pay ₹80-100 per litre. So a ₹2 hike is nothing. The real issue isn't the price—it's the lack of an MSP for dairy farmers. They deserve price security like crop farmers get. The minister's response about market-driven pricing doesn't fully address farmer welfare in my view.
चाय की दुकान वाला हूँ। (I run a tea shop.) Dairy ne price badhaya, main bhi chai ka rate badhaunga. Har baar aisa hota hai - ek cheez badhti hai toh sab badh jaata hai. (If dairy increases price, I'll increase tea price too. This always happens - one thing rises, everything rises.) Middle class and small businesses always suffer. Government should think about us too, not just big dairy companies and farmers.
The production stats are impressive - 69% growth in a decade! But then why do farmers still struggle? Something's off in the supply chain. Middlemen and private dairies are probably pocketing the profits while both farmer and consumer suffer. Maybe the government should strengthen cooperatives more aggressively instead of letting market forces dictate everything. Just saying... 🤔
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.