There hasn't been any outcry from the consumers but the political parties have certainly taken an objection on the grounds that the Dairy can afford to sell milk at cheaper rates.

Apart from rise in price of Re 1 per litre on an estimated 50,000 litre procured from other milk dairies and the need to give the milk suppliers more returns which have subjected the Dairy to hike the price, there is much more which is yet to come to light. Those in the milk business might be well aware but not the common citizens.

Returns to an estimated 1.50 lakh suppliers in the district are usually raised during the summers as milk production goes down in the season and the incentive is a bid to ensure that the suppliers do not get lured away by the private purchasers.

Dairy managing director Ravindra Mathur says the milk production is comparatively less in summer as buffaloes are pregnant then and the Dairy has been making efforts to bring in more cows so that the pregnancy cycle is different. He further claims that although every year the production increases by 5 per cent, the demand goes up by 10 per cent.

One of the directors Ambubhai Patel, too, justifies the hike saying that there would have been no alternative. Right now the prices of the Baroda Dairy is on par with other dairies in the State. According to sources, the difference could be only 50 paise per half litre.

According to highly reliable sources, although by effecting the hike in prices, the dairy would get an estimated Rs 1.50 lakh more daily, the returns are usually passed on to the milk suppliers. While recently, their return has been hiked from Rs 170 per kilogram fat to Rs 173, the dairy also on March 31 announced to give them Rs 1.50 crore as dividend/incentive for the fiscal year 1998-1999.

BJP MLA Yogesh Patel, who has been fighting against the price rise, says that despite giving milk suppliers even Rs 180 per kilogram fat, the dairy can still supply milk without hiking price.

While he says that the prices of milk supplied here by other nine-odd private dairies is cheaper by anywhere between 50 paise to 75 paise, highly placed sources in the Baroda Dairy question the quality of the milk supplied. Also, according to sources, the salaries in the co-operative sectors is more than the private sector.

Although exact details about the market controlled by the private dairies is not available, sources say they don't hold much footing. As regards the loose milk the prices vary by 50 paise per half litre. But one of the suppliers whom Express Newsline talked said they would also hike the price as Dairy was giving more dividends and that they would also have to follow the suit. According to estimates, approximately 25,000 litre loose milk is supplied in the city.