DDC hikes ghee price by Rs 70 per liter

KATHMANDU, Jan 14: State-owned Dairy Development Corporation (DDC) has raised price of ghee by Rs 70 per liter with effect from January 9.

With the fresh price hike, DDC ghee now costs Rs 750 for a liter pack and Rs 375 for a half liter pack.

Officials of DDC have cited price hike to increasing supply of low-fat milk by farmers and rise in the price of milk in India - a major supplier of fresh milk to Nepal.

They also said the announcement to increase price of fresh milk from next week also added pressure on them to adjust ghee prices.

“Farmers have been supplying us low-fat milk in high quantity. This forced us to adjust prices of ghee as fat content in milk directly affects ghee production,” Madhav Ojha, business head at DDC, told Republica.

According to Ojha, an increasing number of farmers are supplying cow milk to DDC instead of buffalo milk which has high fat content. “Buffalo milk consists of five percent fat, while cow milk contain less than four percent,” added Ojha.
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DDC produces an average of 2,000 liters of ghee a day.

RT Chaudhary, general manager at DDC, attributed the rise in price of ghee to increased cost of milk in India. “Prices of milk and other raw materials have increased in India. It raised our production cost,” said Chaudhary.

DDC imports around 30,000 liters of fresh milk from different Indian states.

Meanwhile, private dairies are also preparing to raise price of ghee.

“Not only ghee, price of other dairy products will also rise as increment in price of fresh milk will raise our cost of production,” Pradeep Maharjan, proprietor of Kathmandu Dairy, said. “The price of ghee will cross Rs 700 per liter.”
At present, private dairies are selling ghee at Rs 620 per liter.

(Source: Republica)