Karnataka Raises Nandini Milk Price by Rs 8 a Litre From November 1

The Karnataka Cabinet decided on Thursday, 29 October 2026, to increase milk prices by Rs 8 per litre, effective 1 November. Of the increase, Rs 7 will go to farmers and Re 1 will go to the milk cooperatives, PTI reported. The milk is sold under the Nandini brand by the state's milk federation and its unions.

Farmers in Karnataka currently receive around Rs 35 per litre, in addition to a government incentive of Rs 5 per litre. Under the decision, the price paid to farmers will rise from Rs 35 to Rs 42 per litre. The Rs 5 incentive will continue, so farmers will receive Rs 47 per litre in total, including the incentive.

A Karnataka minister announcing the decision said the Cabinet had discussed the increase before settling on the split between farmers and cooperatives. "After discussions in the Cabinet today, under the chairmanship of the chief minister, we decided on an increase of Rs 8 per litre, of which Rs 7 will go to the farmers and Re 1 to the milk cooperatives," the minister said, as reported by PTI.

What farmers had asked for

Farmers had demanded an increase of at least Rs 10 per litre. The Cabinet decision gives them Rs 7 of the Rs 8 increase. Dairy farmers supply milk to village level collection societies, which pass it to district unions and the state federation that markets milk and milk products under the Nandini name. The price farmers receive at the collection point is the main return most small dairy households get for each litre they sell.

What shoppers will pay

If the full increase is passed on to consumers, Nandini toned milk in the blue packet, currently priced at Rs 46 a litre, will cost Rs 54 a litre from 1 November. That final shelf price depends on the full increase being passed through, which the reports announcing the Cabinet decision present as the expected outcome rather than a separately confirmed retail order.

The decision was announced on 29 October and takes effect three days later, on 1 November, giving unions and retailers a short window to apply the new rates.

For a dairy household, the farmer share is the part of the decision that lands first. A farmer selling 10 litres a day gains Rs 70 a day from the Rs 7 farmer share alone, before the continuing Rs 5 per litre government incentive is counted. The cooperative share of Re 1 per litre stays inside the collection system that moves milk from village societies to the federation.