Milk Gets Dearer: Amul and Mother Dairy Raise Rates by Up to Rs 4 a Litre

Price revisions take effect this week

Households across the country will pay more for fresh milk from Thursday, after the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, which sells under the Amul name, and Mother Dairy both announced increases of between Rs 2 and Rs 4 per litre. The federation put its average rise at roughly 4 to 5 per cent on fresh pouch milk across its main variants.

Amul’s best-selling Taaza toned milk, with 3 per cent fat, rises by Rs 2 per litre, a gain of about 3.3 per cent. Gold milk, which carries 6 per cent fat, goes up by Rs 4, or around 5.5 per cent.

Rising costs behind the decision

Both companies pointed to higher input costs. Amul said spending on green and dry fodder, cattle feed components such as oil cake, maize and molasses, packaging film and fuel had climbed markedly over the past year. Mother Dairy said its procurement prices paid to farmers had risen, and that it was passing on part of that burden to buyers.

Amul also linked the decision to weak and uneven rainfall in Gujarat and other parts of the country. Its member unions, it said, had lifted the prices they pay farmers by 4 to 5 per cent over the year, and the retail revision is meant to support that. The federation added that around 80 per cent of the revenue earned from consumers through its co-operative structure returns to 36 lakh milk producers.

Mother Dairy’s revised rates in Delhi-NCR

Mother Dairy, the largest milk supplier in the Delhi-NCR region, did not issue a formal statement, but sources confirmed the changes. Bulk-vended toned milk moves to Rs 60 a litre from Rs 58. Pouched full-cream milk rises to Rs 76 from Rs 72, and pouched toned milk to Rs 62 from Rs 60. Double-toned milk goes to Rs 56 from Rs 54, and cow milk to Rs 65 from Rs 62. The company last revised prices on May 14. It sells roughly 35 lakh litres daily in the region through outlets, general trade and e-commerce, and says it passes 75 to 80 per cent of its milk sales realisation back to farmers.

A second hike within the financial year

The increases are the second for milk in the 2026-27 financial year, an uncommon pattern since prices typically change once a year. The last comparable double revision came in 2022-23. The move follows a Karnataka Milk Federation increase of Rs 8 per litre on Nandini milk, effective November 1, along with higher prices for curd and ghee. Amul also raised ghee prices by Rs 50 per litre from November 2.

Background

An industry official said the main driver is the cost of maize, a key component of animal feed. Maize demand has grown as almost 70 per cent of India’s ethanol output in the 2026-27 supply year, which began in November, is made from the grain. Milk is an essential food item, so the revisions will add to household spending and could feed into broader food inflation, with the scale of the effect depending on how much consumers cut back their purchases.

What next

The new prices take effect on November 12. Whether further adjustments follow will depend on fodder availability, rainfall and maize costs, all of which the companies have cited as pressures this year.