Panaji/Mumbai: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who on Wednesday reached the US for medical treatment, is reportedly suffering from an advanced stage of pancreatic cancer.

Sources in Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital and the Goa Medical College and Hospital -the two health facilities where the former Defence Minister was admitted since February 15- have confirmed he has cancer.

On February 18, some media reports had mentioned that the Chief Minister was suffering from advanced stage IV of pancreatic cancer. The hospital had denied this.

A statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office late on Wednesday said that Parrikar had landed in the US on Wednesday evening (IST) and maintained that "he is fine and will undergo further treatment".

"He is diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer of the pancreas. He has already been administered one round of chemotherapy when he was admitted to Lilavati Hospital," sources at the Goa hospital said.

Soon after he was admitted to the Mumbai hospital, the Chief Minister's Office steadfastly maintained that Parrikar was suffering from "mild pancreatitis" and he was expected to be discharged shortly.

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New Delhi, Nov 21: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday launched the Karnataka Milk Federation's (KMF) Nandini brand milk products in the Delhi-NCR market, pricing them marginally lower than competitors to gain a foothold in the region.

The cooperative will retail four cow milk variants, curd, and buttermilk from Friday, with competitive pricing that undercuts established players like Mother Dairy and Amul.

Cow milk will be sold at Rs 56 per litre, full Cream Milk at Rs 67 per litre, Standardised Milk at Rs 61 per litre, Toned Milk at Rs 55 per litre, and curd at Rs 74 per kg.

"We have surplus milk in the state. KMF along with Mandya Milk Union will market surplus milk of 3-4 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR," Siddaramaiah told reporters after launching the products.

The federation currently collects 100 lakh litres of milk daily, with local consumption at 60 lakh litres, leaving a surplus of 40 lakh litres for expansion into new markets.

However, the Chief Minister acknowledged the challenges of transporting milk over 2,500 km, which takes 50-54 hours.

There is a need to find new markets for surplus milk and gradually the KMF should be able to sell 5-6 lakh litres per day in Delhi-NCR, he added.

KMF Chairman LBP Bheemanaik assured that milk quality would be maintained during transit.

The federation has already partnered with 40 dealers in the Delhi-NCR region to facilitate sales, he added.

With a robust infrastructure of 26.76 lakh milk producers, 15,737 dairy cooperative societies, and 15 district milk unions, KMF has a turnover of Rs 25,000 crore and exports dairy products to over 25 countries.

State Animal Husbandry Minister K Venkatesh and Agriculture Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy were present at the product launch.