Milk prices on the boil in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The milk industry in the state could be booming, but there is a sharp rise in the cost of milk over the last one year. Leading milk brands have hiked the price of milk by Rs 2 per litre this June, the second hike in the last eight months. A litre of milk cost Rs 32 a litre until September, 2011, but has now shot to Rs 38 per litre.
Sources say that while a couple of milk brands have already hiked the price citing sourcing and supply as a problem, the other players in the market will announce the hike soon.
Citizens complain that their household budgets have shot considerably particularly families with children or those living in joint families. "We buy 3 litres of milk everyday and our monthly milk budget has gone up by around Rs 600," said R Sunitha Rao, a resident of Karkhana, who has a family of seven that includes her three children and elderly parents. It is only ironical that Andhra Pradesh is the third largest supplier of milk.