Mother Dairy slashes prices across dairy, processed foods

Mother Dairy on Tuesday announced a price reduction over select value added dairy products and processed foods (under Safal brand), effective September 22, passing on the benefits of the recent Goods and Services Tax (GST) rate cut directly to consumers.

The wholly owned subsidiary of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) said the move ensures that its entire range of products now falls under the nil or lowest 5 per cent GST slab.

With the revised prices, ultra high temperature (UHT) milk (toned; tetra pack) (1 litre) will retail at Rs 75, down from Rs 77, while UHT milk (double toned; pouch) (450 ml) will now cost Rs 32 instead of Rs 33 and paneer (200 gm) has dropped from Rs 95 to Rs 92. Butter (100 gm) will cost Rs 58 instead of Rs 62, cheese cubes (180 gm) will now cost Rs 135 instead of Rs 145, cheese spread (180 gm) will cost Rs 110 instead of Rs 120 and cow ghee jar (1 litre) has seen a major cut from Rs 750 to Rs 720. Milkshakes (180 ml) have been reduced from Rs 30 to Rs 28.

Ice creams too have seen notable cuts — choco vanilla cone (100 ml) will now cost Rs 25, down from Rs 30, and strawberry crush tub (1 litre) has come down from Rs 330 to Rs 300.

The company’s Safal portfolio has also seen a uniform GST reduction from 12 per cent to 5 per cent across frozen snacks, jams, pickles, coconut water and tomato puree. Consequently, frozen french fries (400 gm) will cost Rs 95 instead of Rs 100, frozen aloo tikki (400 gm) Rs 85 instead of Rs 90 and frozen nuggets (300 gm) Rs 105 instead of Rs 110. Processed foods like lime pickle (400 gm) have been reduced from Rs 130 to Rs 120, coconut water (200 ml) from Rs 55 to Rs 50 and mixed fruit jam (500 gm) from Rs 180 to Rs 165.

Announcing the revision, Manish Bandlish, Managing Director, Mother Dairy, said: “The recent GST reduction across a wide range of dairy and processed food products represents a progressive step that will significantly boost consumption and accelerate the adoption of safe, high-quality packaged offerings. As a consumer-centric organisation, we are passing on 100 per cent of the tax benefit to our patrons, effective September 22, keeping up with the spirit of this reform.”

He said the move is expected to have a positive impact across the value chain — benefiting consumers with affordable pricing, while also boosting demand and supporting farmers.

It is noteworthy that pouch milk in poly packs, including full cream, toned and cow milk, has always remained exempt from GST, and therefore sees no change in its MRP, Mother Diary emphasised.