Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 24 (IANS): The Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, or Milma, on Thursday announced its decision to hike prices of milk by Rs 6 per litre which will come into effect from December 1.

Currently, the cost of a litre of milk in the state is Rs 46.

The price hike comes three years after Milma had announced an increase of Rs 4 per litre in 2019.

"That time, 83.75 per cent (Rs 3.35) of the additional amount went to the farmers. That proportion will continue this time which means Rs 5.025 of the Rs 6 will go to the farmer," said Chairman of the Federation, K.S. Mani.

The latest decision comes after a Milma-appointed panel comprising experts from the state's veterinary and agriculture universities conducted a study on expenses incurred by dairy farmers.

In its interim report submitted last week, the committee said that the farmers suffer an estimated loss of Rs 8.57 per litre of milk.

Subsequently, the Milma Director Board convened a meeting and found that a price hike was inevitable, the Chairman said.

"Though Milma is authorised to increase the price, the Board's decision was discussed with the state government and a suitable hike was finalised," he added.

Along with a fresh hike in procurement prices, the milk cooperatives and distributors will each get 5.75 per cent of the new hiked amount, while 0.75 per cent of the amount will go to the Dairy Farmers Welfare Fund Board.

Milma will get 3.50 per cent of the increased amount even as 0.50 per cent has been earmarked for the Plastic Elimination Fund.

Besides the rise in the cooperative federation's milk procurement prices, the government has been giving various subsidies to the farmers.

The present hike in the milk procurement price will benefit the milk producers, wooing more of them to join the dairy sector, Mani said.

The 1980-established Milma is a state cooperative society headquartered in Thiruvananthapuram.