Daijiworld Media Network- Bengaluru (RJP)

Bengaluru Jan 2: People of Karnataka did not expect any shock on the first day of the year itself. But the government did not bother about the timing of its decision. The Chief Minister has consented for the hike of Nandini milk price by Rs 4 per litre, it is learned.

There was a demand by milk federations to increase the price of milk by Rs 5 per litre. Minister for co-operation H S Mahadeva Prasad and minister for animal husbandry A Manju took the proposal to the chief minister and discussed it. After the chief minister gave his approval for the hike, it is only a matter of time before the KMF comes out with an announcement.

Presently the milk price is Rs 29 per litre. With the price hike, it will be available at Rs 33. It is expected that the KMF will make the announcement within a day and the price hike will come into effect from January 5.

Minister A Manju said that the price hike is going to help the farmers who are in distress and instil confidence in them. 75% of the money from the hike will go to the farmers while the remaining money will be spent for administrative expenses of the federations.

Electricity situation to improve

Meanwhile energy minister D K Shivakumar has said that there will not be any load shedding in the state from January 1 as the electricity situation has improved.

Karnataka with the demand of 9,800 mega watts and the supply of 8,400 mega watts still faces a shortage of 1,400 mega watts. But the minister is confident that the shortage will be made good by sourcing electricity from different sources.

Farmer pump sets will get 3 phase electricity for 6 to 7 hours and pump sets for drinking water purposes will get electricity all 24 hours. There will not be any load shedding in the state from now onwards, the minister revealed.