CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu chief minister Joseph Vijay on Monday announced a further increase in the milk procurement price to Rs 44 per litre, taking the cumulative increase across the state to Rs 6.The announcement was made under Rule 110 of the Tamil Nadu Assembly rules following concerns over rising input costs highlighted by stakeholders.CM Vijay also announced that a semiconductor park will be established at Maduramangalam in Kanchipuram district.To address power cuts in Chennai, a new electricity corridor will be set up at a cost of Rs 1762 crore.In addition, another electricity corridor project worth Rs 1550 crore will be taken up, CM Vijay said.Earlier in August, the Tamil Nadu government announced a series of major measures under Rule 110 covering milk procurement prices, medical education, healthcare infrastructure and insurance coverage.The government had announced an increase in the milk procurement price from Rs 38 to Rs 41 per litre.The announcement stated that the increase would result in an additional expenditure of Rs 30 crore per month and Rs360 crore per year for the government.In the healthcare and medical education sector, the government announced Rs 351 crore to increase student admission capacity in government medical colleges.A total of 6,098 additional seats will be created to develop healthcare professionals, including 660 B.Sc.Nursing seats, 1,925 additional seats in nursing colleges and schools, 2,778 seats across 12 paramedical courses and 735 additional seats in medical courses.The milk procurement measure is expected to benefit more than 3.16 lakh milk producers.Along with the increase in procurement price, the government had earlier announced that the incentive would be increased from Rs3 to Rs5 per litre.Meanwhile, household budgets in Mumbai are set to take a hit ahead of the festive season, with the Bombay Milk Producers Association (BMPA) announcing a Rs 9 per litre hike in wholesale milk prices.From September 1, 2026, the wholesale milk rate across Mumbai and its adjoining metropolitan supply networks will increase from Rs93 per litre to Rs102 per litre.The association said the revised rate will remain in effect for six months, through February 28, 2027.The increase represents one of the steepest single-step price adjustments by the association in recent history.The price revision is expected to affect local bakeries, sweet shops (mithai walas) and eateries across the city, apart from household milk consumption.With bulk procurement costs rising, consumers can expect secondary price adjustments for everyday dairy products such as curd, paneer and festive sweets heading into the second half of the year.(With inputs from ANI)
