TN Hikes Milk Procurement Price to ₹44 Per Litre, Benefiting 3.16 Lakh Dairy Producers

In an announcement made in the state legislative assembly in Chennai on Monday, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay declared a ₹3 per litre increase in Tamil Nadu’s milk procurement price. The latest revision raises the procurement rate from ₹41 to ₹44 per litre, offering financial relief to more than 3.16 lakh milk producers who regularly supply primary dairy cooperative societies.

Making the policy announcement under Rule 110 in the assembly, Chief Minister Vijay explained that persistent increases in cattle feed expenses and various other dairy farming input costs had necessitated the price revision. To prevent the hike from financially straining the state dairy cooperative machinery, the government announced that it will fully compensate Aavin for the resulting additional expenditure, which amounts to approximately ₹720 crore on an annual basis.

The announcement marks the second time in a month that the state government has hiked the procurement price for milk producers, following a revision announced less than a fortnight earlier. During the previous revision on August 19, the overall procurement price was increased from ₹38 to ₹41 per litre. That earlier adjustment had incorporated a ₹1 price increase channelled through cooperative societies as well as an enhancement in the state government's incentive from ₹3 to ₹5 per litre.

The Chief Minister noted that the latest decision came in response to representations submitted by cooperative milk producers’ welfare associations and dairy farmers. The producers had highlighted steep escalations in the market prices of vital livestock feed materials, specifically pointing to sharp increases in the costs of dry fodder, green fodder, bran, oil cakes, and other essential farm inputs.

The economic challenges faced by milk producers had also been brought to the floor of the assembly last week. DMK whip E V Velu, former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, and several other legislators had raised the issue in the House through a special call attention motion, pressing for government action to assist the cooperative milk producers across Tamil Nadu.