NEW DELHI, INDIA, August 20, 2003: Over the last three days, the demand for milk has suddenly shot up, resulting in Mother Dairy outlets running dry. The reason: The dual festivals of Rakhi and Janmashtami have increased the intake of sweets of Delhiites over the last week. On Tuesday, many areas of the city could not get milk and people queued up at Mother Dairy outlets only to return disappointed. A spokesman for Mother Dairy said demand had risen by over 20 percent because of the Rakhi and Janmashtami falling close to each other. He said that supply of milk had, in fact, been increased and assured that the situation would normalize over the next few days. The prices of milk powder and ghee have also shot up in wholesale markets due to the high demand for sweets. At Khari Baoli wholesale market — the biggest in Delhi for the two products — milk powder was selling at $1.46 per kg a week ago but currently it is priced at over $1.98 per kg. For comparison, one can buy powdered milk wholesale in the US for $1.65 per kilo. The price of ghee in Delhi has also risen from $2.71 per kg to $3.13 per kg.