Sweets get dearer on costly milk

This festive season, sweets lovers will be shelling out more than what they did last year. Prices of most sweets are up by 2-10 per cent due to an increase in milk prices. Consumption of sweets is maximum between Dussehra and Diwali.

"The price of any sweet is directly linked to raw material costs. As and when the input costs go up significantly, we need to pass on the increase," said Ajay Agarwal, general manager, Bikanerwala Foods. The company runs a chain of sweets outlets in north and west India.

Sweets with dairy product khoya as the main ingredient have seen a rise in prices. Since milk prices have moved up in a big way over the last year's (Rs 22 a litre compared with Rs 16 last year), paneer and khoya are costlier. Sweets such as khoya burfi and milk cake are 5-8 per cent expensive now. Khoya burfi, for instance, is now selling at Rs 196 a kg, up almost 9 per cent over the last year's Rs 180, according to Agarwal.

Meanwhile, there has been a marginal increase in prices of sweets that have dry fruits as the main content as dry fruits are available at same prices as those of last year. Kaju burfi, for instance, is selling at Rs 300 a kg, compared with Rs 296 last year.

Milk prices have been rising continuously since the last year. Mother Dairy, the capital's biggest milk retailer, has hiked prices of most milk categories by Rs 5 a litre, an increase ranging between 26 and 33 per cent depending on the category.

The government had imposed a ban on skimmed milk powder exports between February and September this year to augment the domestic availability of milk.