Indian government will help the country double its milk capacity to 108 mn tonnes

The Centre on Tuesday said it will facilitate doubling of milk processing capacity from 53.5 million tonne to 108 million tonne by 2025. Public investment to further incentivise private investments would be facilitated for increasing processing facilities through convergence and leveraging various government schemes, an official statement said.

Milk production in India is growing by 6.4 per cent during the past five years and has increased from 146.3 million tonne in 2014-15 to 187.7 million tonne in 2018-19.

According to the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, "There is a need to bring the remaining 64 per cent surplus milk under the organised fold through various interventions."

About 54 per cent of the milk produced is marketable surplus and the remaining 46 per cent is retained in villages for local consumption, it said.

Out of the marketable surplus available with farmers, only 36 per cent is handled by organised sectors evenly shared by cooperative and private sectors, it said adding that milk procurement in the previous year has also been growing.

The department also said it is continuously working towards increasing milk productivity through genetic improvement and reduction of input cost.

That apart, a special programme has also been launched recently for improvement of milk quality by providing required testing facilities at village and dairy plant level for safe human consumption, it added.

The department plans to further intensify the Quality Milk Programme for both cooperative and private sectors with a fund sharing basis.

With a thrust on better productivity, reduced input cost and better quality milk and milk products, the department said the competitiveness and profitability in the dairy sector will get enhanced leading to increased demand of dairy products in domestic and international markets.

This would also bring private investments in the sector to boost growth in rural income and also employment, it added.