The household budget of millions of families in the country's capital Delhi, National Capital Region (NCR) and North India is going to get a big blow. India's two largest and most trusted dairy brands—Mother Dairy and Amul—have taken an official decision to increase the retail prices of milk by ₹2 to ₹6 per liter with immediate effect. These revised rates will come into effect with direct effect from the morning of November 12, 2026. At a time when normal routine was getting back on track after the festive season across the country, this sudden rise in the prices of a basic nutrient like milk has ruined the kitchen of middle class and lower income group families. Now consumers will have to shell out more than ever for their tea, baby glasses and daily dairy products. According to top officials and insiders of the dairy industry, this price increase has been decided on different categories (variants) of milk based on their fat percentage. There has been an increase of ₹2 per liter on everyday's best-selling toned milk, while an increase of ₹4 per liter will be applicable on creamier full cream milk. The biggest blow has been to buyers of buffalo thick full cream milk, where prices have seen a huge jump of ₹6 per litre. Companies say that this decision was not necessary for any unexpected profit, but to compensate for the increasing costs of rural economy and milk producing farmers. New rate list in Delhi-NCR: Know the latest price of toned, full cream, cow and buffalo milk. According to the new price chart released in the retail market of Delhi-NCR, the price of toned milk available at booths through token and bulk vending machines will now increase from ₹ 58 to ₹ 60 per liter. Customers who buy packaged toned milk will now have to pay ₹62 per liter instead of ₹60. At the same time, the rates of premium full cream packet milk, which is considered the first choice of families, has jumped from ₹ 72 to a new level of ₹ 76 per liter. This is the same milk which is mainly used in most homes to make thick tea, curd and cheese. With this, the price of high quality buffalo full cream milk with fat concentration of 6.5 percent has directly increased from ₹ 80 to a record level of ₹ 86 per liter. There has also been an increase of ₹ 2 on the double-toned milk bags of Mother Dairy, after which its price will increase from ₹ 54 to ₹ 56 per liter. Fans of cow's milk, popular among health conscious people and children, are also not relieved; The price of cow milk has been increased from ₹62 to ₹65 per litre. This means that even on cow milk packets, customers will have to pay ₹3 more per liter directly. Historic rise for the first time in 'Flush Season', know why cold storages of dairy companies are getting empty. This latest price increase is considered very shocking for the experts of dairy economics, because generally the month of November is considered to be the beginning of 'Flush Season' in the country. During these winter months, milk yielding capacity of milch animals naturally increases due to abundance of green fodder and favorable cold weather. In normal years, during this season, milk production and arrivals in the markets are at their highest level, due to which the prices either remain completely stable or at times there is an atmosphere of stability in them. On the contrary, the shortage of milk this time even with the arrival of flush season and this huge surge in prices is a clear indication that the country's dairy sector is facing a serious structural crisis of supply. According to animal husbandry and agriculture experts, due to irregular rains and climate change in the last few months, there has been an abnormal decline in the health of milch cattle and their daily productivity. When the collection of fresh raw milk at village primary milking centers falls, dairy companies use milk fat and skimmed milk powder (SMP) from their buffer stocks through reconstitution technology to meet the daily demand of liquid milk in the market. However, there has been a severe shortage of milk fat in the major cold storages of the country, due to which the wholesale prices of milk fat in the open market have increased by 20 to 25 percent within the last few months. As a result, the alternative method of preparing liquid milk by mixing powder and fat has also become very expensive for companies. Farmers were worried about the inflation of animal feed, Amul increased the purchase rate by ₹ 1,000 per kg of fat. The increasing cost of animal husbandry at the rural level is also an important reason behind this major hindrance in the supply of milk. During the last one year, prices of dry fodder, cake, bran, maize and special animal feed have increased by 30 to 40 percent. This severe inflation had almost wiped out the monthly profits of small and marginal dairy farmers, forcing many farmers to reduce milk production or limit the number of cattle. If the companies did not increase the procurement price, there was a danger of the daily collection of milk coming from villages to cities completely collapsing. With the aim of taking rural producers out of this economic whirlpool and encouraging them to produce more, Amul has increased its procurement price to ₹ 1,000 per kilogram of fat based on the fat present in milk. This policy change simply means that now rural cattle farmers will get an average payment of more than ₹ 60 per liter directly into their accounts depending on the quality of their milk. Dairy unions have a clear argument that unless the village farmers are given a fair and remunerative price for their hard work, uninterrupted supply cannot be maintained in the cities. In such a situation, this burden of additional recovery from retail consumers is an inevitable step taken directly to save the livelihood of the farmers and cattle rearers of the country.