Mother Dairy to pay Rs 2/L more to farmers; no hike in prices

Leading milk supplier Mother Dairy today said it will pay farmers Rs 2 more on every litre procured during this summer but ruled out any increase in retail prices for at least next two months.
At the beginning of this month, Mother Dairy was procuring milk at an average Rs 37-37.50 per litre from farmers in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
"I do not expect retail prices to go up in the next 60 days. But we will have to pay more to farmers during summer. There has been an impact on farmers due to drought in many parts of the country," Mother Dairy Managing Director S Nagarajan told reporters here.

He said the company will increase the milk procurement price for farmers by Rs 2 per kg to ensure that the availability of stock with the company does not get affected during summer.
"In summer, temperature goes up and that affects supply. Moreover, there is marriage season. So, we will pay more to farmers to maintain our milk procurement," Nagarajan said.
Mother Dairy sells about 35 lakh litres per day, of which 30 lakh litres is in Delhi-NCR. It has about 800 milk booths and nearly 400 stores in the national capital region.

Talking about partnering IPL cricket team Delhi Daredevils as its principal sponsor, Nagarajan said: "This is our first association with any sport in a major way. Mother Dairy is part of life in Delhi in last 45 years. To us, the association with Delhi Daredevils is important."

Although the contract is for IPL 2016, Nagarajan said: "I don't see as a one-year kind of venture. We need to understand what is sport sponsorship."
Delhi Daredevils CEO Hemant Dua said it was a natural fit to associate with Mother Dairy.
Mother Dairy is also exploring to extend their association with cricket tournament organised by Delhi Daredevils in Delhi schools, both private and government-run.
On the team's performance, Dua said: "We don't have any expectations. The team has to go and perform the best. I think, they have started on a good note. So we are happy about it. It's a young team. All, we have told them to go and express themselves freely on the ground. They are doing that and hopefully they will carry in that direction. We don't want to put any pressure or any expectation on the youngsters. They go and do what they are best at, results will follow."

Being the principal sponsor, Nagarajan said a lot of activites, includng contests for consumers and booth owners, are lined up during the ongoing IPL season.