Oct. 30: The price of Purabi milk will go up by 50 paise per litre from November 1. A decision to this effect was taken yesterday by the West Assam Milk Producers’ Co-operative Union Limited, which markets the Purabi brand of milk.

Managing director of the union, J. Choudhury, said they had to revise the price “reluctantly” because of unavoidable circumstances.

“The increasing cost of raw milk and other related expenditures during the past few years has forced the union to revise the maximum retail price (MRP) of Purabi milk,” he said.

The milk for the dairy is procured locally only from the primary milk producers’ co-operatives operating in Kamrup, Nagaon, Morigaon, Goalpara and Nalbari.

The milk is not purchased from private vendors and milk traders to maintain the quality and consistency of the raw milk. “We never compromise on the quality of the milk,” said Choudhury.

According to Choudhury, the price of 500 ml pouch of “Joy” (double toned) milk and “Life” (toned milk) will be raised to Rs 8.50 and Rs 9.50 respectively from the existing price of Rs 8 and Rs 9 from November 1.

“Since the existing printed price of Rs 8 and Rs 9 on the milk pouch cannot be removed immediately, consumers are requested to ignore the mentioned price,” said Choudhury.

The last price revision by the union was made in 2001 for toned milk and in 2003 for double toned milk.

“The consumers are requested to bear with us. It was difficult for us to maintain the quality of the milk without the price hike,” he added.

Out of the city’s total milk requirement of 1.2 lakh litres per day, about 10,000 litres are supplied by the union.

Purabi milk is marketed through a network of 418 retail booths in the city, each booth covering approximately 500 households.

Currently, Purabi milk products such as icecream, paneer, yoghurt, lassi, ghee and flavoured milk are available at 120 retail outlets in the city.

Choudhury said though the price of liquid milk has been increased, there would be no change in the price of milk products.