The hike in milk procurement price announced by the State government seems to have disappointed dairy farmers and other milk producers. It was on Wednesday that Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay announced a ₹3 hike per litre of milk procured by Aavin. This, milk producers said, was unsatisfactory.

P. Perumal, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Association, said the government's hike of ₹3 per litre, including ₹1 as procurement price hike and ₹2 as incentive, disappointed milk producers. Currently, the procurement price of ₹38 per litre was given for milk with 4.3% fat and 8.2% solid Non-Fat (SNF).

He highlighted how, over the past four years, the cost of fodder rose by 100%. Milk producers had been demanding that the government increase milk procurement price by ₹20 per litre, including ₹10 as procurement price and ₹10 as an incentive, to offset cost and encourage supply of quality milk to Aavin. In response, the government hiked the procurement price by just ₹3 per litre.

Mr. Perumal said Tamil Nadu produces 2 crore litres of milk a day, and private dairy companies offer ₹10 higher than Aavin’s procurement price per litre. Aavin, as such, is able to procure only 34 lakh litres of milk per day.

To put this in perspective, if 100 farmers provided milk to an Aavin milk cooperative society earlier, it is just 15 now, he said. As a result, it is not possible for Aavin to sell quality milk at an affordable price. Currently, private dairies charge ₹20 more per litre than Aavin does.

A green packet (containing 4.5% fat and 8.5% SNF) of Aavin milk is sold for ₹44 per litre, whereas the same kind of milk is sold by private dairies for ₹68-₹71 per litre. Likewise, Aavin’s orange milk packets (containing 6% fat and 9% SNF) are sold for ₹60 per litre whereas the same kind of milk is sold by private dairies for ₹78-₹82 per litre.

Therefore, the Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Association is requesting the government and Aavin to reconsider and increase the procurement price by ₹10 per litre and the incentive by ₹10 per litre to protect the interests of milk producers, the Aavin Cooperative Societies, and the public, Mr. Perumal added.

R. Rajendran, president of Tamil Nadu Milk Producers Welfare Association, said producers will stop supplying milk to Aavin from August 24 to press for a higher procurement price hike.

R. Velusamy, president of Uzhavar Perunthalaivar Narayanasamy Naidu's Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, too, urged the government to increase the Aavin milk procurement price by ₹10 per litre and claimed that the current hike of ₹3 hike is insufficient.

Published - August 20, 2026 07:13 pm IST