Milk price increased keeping interest of farmers in mind: CM Siddaramaiah
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday defended the Rs two hike in 'Nandini' milk prices with additional 50 ml of milk in half-litre and one litre packets, stating that it has been done keeping in mind the interest of farmers in view of rising procurement.
He reiterated that milk prices have not been increased.
"Last year during the same time milk (production) was 90 lakh litres (per day), now it is more than 99 lakh litre. We have to procure milk from farmers, we cannot say no to them, the milk is produced and it has to be marketed. So we have enhanced the half litre milk packet quantity by 50 ml," Siddaramaiah told reporters here.
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"The quantity has been enhanced and, proportionate to the increased quantity, the price has been hiked. The cost of 50 ml that has been enhanced in half and one litre packet is Rs 2.10, and we have increased Rs 2, where have we hiked the milk price?" he said. "Can we throw away (more) milk that has been produced? Can we say to farmers we will not procure from them?
When told that restaurants are reportedly planning to hike coffee and tea prices, the Chief Minister said, "how will they increase, they can increase when milk prices are hiked."
The opposition BJP took a dig at the government as the hike in milk prices came days after the government increased fuel prices in the state.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the move is aimed at benefiting farmers and prices should have been hiked more.
"This shows that BJP is anti-farmers. The increased amount will go to the farmers who are in distress. KMF (Karnataka Milk Federation) is a farmers' organisation, this is to benefit farmers. According to me, prices should have been hiked more....farmers are in distress, they are selling their cattle unable to take care of them," he said
BJP should have demanded a hike in prices for the benefit of farmers, he said, asking the party to compare the milk prices in other states.
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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
