Bengaluru: A line in the household budget is about to move. The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday approved an Rs 8 per litre increase in Nandini milk prices, effective November 1.
For a family that buys two litres a day, that works out to roughly Rs 480 more a month. At one litre a day, it is about Rs 240.
The decision was taken at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday. The government has not released the reason for the increase, whether it applies uniformly across every variant, or whether the procurement price paid to dairy farmers is being raised alongside it.
Nandini is the brand of the Karnataka Milk Federation and has a large share of the state's retail milk market. Whether the revision also touches curd, buttermilk, butter and khoya is not yet clear.
Milk prices are politically sensitive in Karnataka, and opposition parties have attacked the government over earlier revisions. The Cabinet's approval on Thursday was reported without an official statement spelling out the arithmetic behind the Rs 8.
What is known is the date and the direction. The revised rates take effect on November 1, which falls on a Saturday, so consumers will see the new figure on packets from that morning.
Milk is a daily purchase, so the revision lands differently from other price changes. Tea stalls, small hotels and sweet shops that buy in bulk will have to decide whether to pass on the Rs 8 or absorb it. The Cabinet has not said whether the increase is tied to a higher procurement price for farmers, the part dairy unions and farmer groups usually watch.
KMF is expected to publish the revised card for each variant in the coming days. Until then, the only certainty for a consumer is the Rs 8.