Chennai, Aug 24 - The frothy cup of coffee made with a generous helping of milk, a mainstay for the people of Tamil Nadu, may not cheer any longer. Milk prices are going to burn a big hole in the household budget from Sep 1.

A steep increase in milk procurement prices - Rs.5 a litre for buffalo milk and Rs.2 a litre for cow milk - has prompted the state government to hike the retail prices of the milk sold by Aavin by Rs.2/litre for monthly card holders and Rs.2.50/litre for non card holders, effective Sep 1.

After a meeting with the milk producers in the state secretariat here, Electricity Minister Arcot N. Veeraswami and U. Mathivanan, minister for dairy development, announced the increase in the milk procurement as well as selling prices.

Though the hike was on the cards for sometime, the government decided to wait for the by-polls in the five constituencies to get over.

Now that the ruling DMK-Congress combine has bagged all the five seats, the milk price hike has been announced.