INDUSTRY

Amul MD R S Sodhi hints at further hike in prices of milk with rising input costs

Dairy cooperative Amul feels that prices will remain “firm” going forward due to increased pressure from energy, logistics and packaging costs. 


“Prices will be firm; I can’t say by how much. They can’t go down from here. (They) can only go up,” Amul Managing Director R S Sodhi told PTI on Tuesday when asked about his outlook on milk prices. 


The cooperative had hiked prices by 8 per cent in the last two years, including the Rs 2 hike in milk prices per litre last month, Mr Sodhi said. 


Headline inflation is a big worry for policymakers. Inflation is being blamed as one of the major reasons which have restricted growth-enhancing measures like rate cuts. The six-member rate-setting panel of the RBI will start a bi-monthly review meet from Wednesday. 


Stressing that inflation in his industry was not a cause for worry per se because the farmer was getting benefitted through higher prices for the produce, Mr Sodhi said that Amul and the broader dairy sector were very limited as compared to others or when compared to the rise in input costs. 


He said that energy prices, which impact cold storage expenses, had gone up by over a third, logistics costs were also up by a similar measure and the same was the case with packaging. 


There was an increase of Rs 1.20 per litre of milk because of these pressures, he said, stressing that farmers’ income per litre had also gone up by up to Rs 4 per litre during the pandemic. 

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