Odisha: Paneer, chhena to become dearer from May 1

Prices of dairy products like chhena and paneer will increase from May 1, informed Cuttack district dairy product traders association on Tuesday.

The wholesale price of chhena will be hiked by Rs 20 per kg, paneer by Rs 30 per kg and khoya by Rs 60 per kg, the association informed.

The association cited the rise in the price of milk as the reason behind the hike in paneer and chhena prices.

The General Secretary of the association said, “Milk is the base ingredient for all dairy products. When milk price rises, the prices of dairy products will rise automatically. This is the wholesale price and not the retail price which has been hiked.”

Explaining the price rise, he said, “Five litres of milk is needed to make a kilogram of Chhena. So when the milk price was hiked by Rs 4 per litre. Were forced to hike the chhena price by Rs 20 per Kg. Apart from that the transportation cost has increased as well. We do not intend to harass the consumers, but we are helpless.”

Recently, the state-owned OMFED (Odisha State Cooperative Milk Producers’ Federation) hiked the price of milk effective from April 1, 2023.

The federation increased the prices of milk by Rs 2 per half a liter on all variants. It attributed the price hike to an increase in the costs of packaging, logistics, cattle feed, and other operational costs.