India plans to expand its milk processing capacity from 66 million litre per day to 100 million litre by 2028-29, Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said on Friday, highlighting the government’s push to strengthen the country’s fastest-growing dairy sector.
“Our current milk processing capacity is 660 lakh litres per day, and our target is to increase this to 100 million litres by 2028–29,” Shah said, noting that the expansion would directly benefit farmers and cooperative societies.
He said the growth would be driven by accelerating the construction of modern dairy plants, increasing research and development threefold, and promoting technology adoption such as scientific breeding, embryo transfer, and sex-determination techniques.
Shah highlighted that India’s dairy sector has grown by 70 per cent over the past 11 years, with milk production rising from 146 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 239 million tonnes today. “Per capita milk availability has increased from 124 grams to 471 grams, benefiting roughly 8 crore farmers across the country,” he added.
The minister also pointed to the government’s White Revolution 2.0 initiative, which aims to establish more than 75,000 new dairy cooperative societies and strengthen 46,000 existing ones. “This will ensure every village has access to cooperative structures and farmers benefit directly from increased production and market reach,” he said.
Sabar Dairy’s recent Rs 350 crore plant in Rohtak, Haryana, was cited as a model for northern India, with daily production capacity of 150 metric tonnes of curd, 10 metric tonnes of yoghurt, 300,000 litres of buttermilk, and 10,000 kilograms of sweets. Shah said the plant would help meet Delhi-NCR demand while supporting farmers in Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Bihar.
“The government is committed to making India self-reliant in the dairy sector,” Shah said. “By expanding processing capacity, modernising infrastructure, and supporting farmer cooperatives, we aim to maintain India’s leadership as the world’s largest milk-producing country.” |
