Wedding season pushes up further inflated milk prices in Varanasi

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 15:34 [IST]

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                                    By Girish Kumar Dubey

Varanasi, Apr 23 : A sharp rise in demand for milk and milk-made sweets due to wedding season has pushed up further already inflated milk prices in Varanasi.Milk prices have doubled and the demand for consumer durables and non-durables have almost doubled.The milkmen say that with supply remaining constant the steep increase in demand is playing havoc with the milk prices.

"The fodder prices have gone up pushing the prices of milk. The demand for milk is more, but the supply has not increased," said Rajesh Yadav, a milkman.While the residents complain that they pay around 50 rupees per litre of milk, almost twice the price prevailing a month ago, the milkmen and the shopkeepers say that they aren't happy either as the price rise has translated into lesser sales of milk based products.

"Today, the price of milk is hovering around Rs 40-50 per litre. We cannot help but increase the price of tea. But, the consumption of tea has gone down. Many people are not buying tea. Many milk brands are also not available in the market," said Sonu Yadav, a roadside tea vendor. Others say that even as they were trying to cope up with the increasing prices of food grains, vegetables and fruits, the inflated price of milk is hurting them more.