Karnataka Milk Federation Reduces Prices of Curd, Lassi, and Buttermilk

After receiving strong criticism from the state's opposition parties, the BJP Government in Karnataka announced a partial rollback of the GST hike on packaged milk products including curd, lassi, and buttermilk.

In the interest of the Public, the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which had initially passed on the Sunday GST hike of 5% for packaged milk products to consumers, announced a rollback of the hike on Monday night.

The cost of a 200 gm sachet of curd, which had been increased from Rs 10 to Rs 12, was later reduced to Rs 10.50. After the revised rates were announced on Monday night by the KMF, a litre of curd will now cost Rs 45 instead of Rs 46.

"On the chief minister's orders, the KMF changed the cost of packaged milk products including curd, buttermilk, and lassi. Prices increased by 5% because of the GST hike, but this was revised after the suggestion of the CM,” the officer of Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said after the revised rates were announced late on Monday night.

The KMF cited a central government decision dated July 13 requiring states to implement increased GST rates as agreed by the GST council starting on July 18 in order to explain the increase in the price of packaged milk products.

A 200 ml sachet of buttermilk will cost Rs 7.50 under the amended prices (a 50 paise increase compared to the initial Re 1 hike), and a 200 ml tetra pack will cost Rs 10.50 (a 50 paise increase compared to the original Re 1 hike), and a bottle will cost Rs 12.50 rather than Rs 13. A 200 ml sachet of lassi will now cost Rs 10.50 rather than the initial Re 1 hike of Rs 11.

The Center and state governments have received harsh criticism from the citizens and opposition leaders for imposing taxes on dairy products.

A resident of Katipalla Village; A retired High School Teacher Shridhar Bhandary said that "Almost all product costs have increased significantly, and we are already reeling under inflation. In this case, What will the common citizen eat and poor people can become victims of starvation.