This variant has 30 per cent more protein than regular toned milk. Priced at ₹40 for 500 ml, the new product is fortified with Vitamins A and D.

Launching the product in Telangana, Raj Kanwar Singh, Chief Executive Officer of Creamline Dairy Products Limited, has said that it would be launched in other Southern markets such as Chennai in the next few weeks.

Quoting from a South India Protein Gap Report commissioned by it last year), he said that 54 per cent of the adults were found to be deficient in protein. “This deficiency increases to 62 per cent among the vegetarians,” he said.

“A protein-rich diet plays an important role in maintaining immunity as the antibodies generated in our body to fight the infection are made up of protein,” Dharini Krishnan, a practising consultant dietician, said.

“The protein acquired from dairy products like milk, curd and paneer, can help in generating white blood cells (WBCs) in larger quantities,” she said.