Karnataka: Nandini ghee price up Rs 180 per litre in 2-and-half months

Unable to get the government’s approval to hike milk prices in the past few months, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) is pushing up the price of Nandini ghee and it has gone up by over Rs 180 per litre in two-and-a half months. A litre of Nandini ghee which was sold at Rs 450 on August 22 is now priced at Rs 630 per litre. Though the revision of GST rates had allowed KMF to hike prices of curd and lassi, ghee and milk were relatively left untouched. But the KMF is now constantly revising the ghee price to make up for the losses incurred in milk sales. Sources said the cost of Nandini ghee has been going up over the past few months. A KMF retailer said: “A litre of ghee was sold at Rs 450 in August 22 just before the festive season. With the onset of the festive season, the KMF began regularly increasing the price of ghee. By the first week of September, it was hiked to Rs 470. In October, a litre of ghee was sold at Rs 518. Now, for the last one week, it is being sold at Rs 620 to Rs 630.” An analysis of sale prices in the past one month revealed that the rates offered in 200ml sachet/pet bottle to one litre quantity have gone up from Rs 12 to Rs 54. “A 200 ml ghee sachet sold at Rs 113 until a month ago is now priced at Rs 135. The pet bottle cost has also gone up from Rs 122 to Rs 145. Similarly, the half-litre sachet which was available at Rs 259 is now sold at Rs 305, while the same quantity pet bottle is sold at Rs 315 from the earlier Rs 268,” a retailer said. KMF managing director BC Sathish was not available for comments. Officials said they had no alternatives but to hike the prices byproducts to tide over the mounting losses over the past two years. The government also repeatedly declined to revise the milk prices, they pointed out.