India’s Milk Surge: 64% Growth in a Decade Puts Country at the Forefront of Global Dairy
March 26, 2025 | By Dairy Dimension – Analyst Desk
India has solidified its position as the undisputed leader in global milk production, achieving an impressive 63.56% growth over the past decade, according to data presented in the Lok Sabha this week by Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, S.P. Singh Baghel.
Milk output in the country jumped from 146.3 million tonnes in 2014–15 to 239.2 million tonnes in 2023–24, growing at an average annual rate of 5.7%—more than double the global average of 2%.
Even more significantly, India now contributes over 25% of the world’s milk production, maintaining its #1 global ranking since 1998.
🧍♂️ Rising Milk Availability: Per Capita Gains Signal Nutrition Security
The per capita milk availability in India rose from 319 gm/day in 2014–15 to 471 gm/day in 2023–24—a 48% rise in just ten years. This figure far outpaces the global average of 322 gm/day, signalling strong domestic supply dynamics even amidst rapid population growth.
Analysts suggest that rising per capita availability is not just a production milestone, but also a critical nutritional achievement. With milk being a primary source of affordable protein, calcium, and essential micronutrients, particularly in vegetarian households, this gain has public health implications across rural and urban India.
🏭 Policy-Driven Expansion: A Web of Schemes Sustains Dairy Growth
The government’s growth strategy relies on a multi-pronged approach, anchored in a series of well-funded, targeted programs. Key among them:
🧊 National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD)
Divided into two components:
- Component A: Focuses on building and strengthening milk testing infrastructure and primary chilling centers to improve milk quality at the grassroots level.
- Component B (“Dairying through Cooperatives”): Enhances farmer access to organised markets, modernizes processing facilities, and empowers dairy cooperatives through institutional strengthening.
💸 Interest Subvention Scheme
Designed to cushion cooperatives from financial shocks due to market disruptions or natural calamities, by subsidising working capital interest on short-term loans.
🏗 Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF)
A landmark credit-linked subsidy scheme that supports:
- Milk processing and value addition
- Animal feed manufacturing
- Genetic improvement facilities
- Waste-to-wealth technologies
- Veterinary vaccine and drug manufacturing
Open to private players, MSMEs, FPOs, and even Section 8 companies, the AHIDF is facilitating private investment into India’s dairy value chain, creating a shift from subsistence production to value-led enterprise.
🧬 Breeding and Livestock Health: The Long Game
🐃 Rashtriya Gokul Mission
Focused on conservation of indigenous breeds and genetic improvement through scientific breeding technologies, this mission is critical for sustainability and resilience, especially as climate and fodder constraints intensify.
🐓 National Livestock Mission (NLM)
Supports entrepreneurship in poultry, sheep, goat, and piggery, with an emphasis on breed improvement, infrastructure, and rural livelihood development.
💉 Livestock Health & Disease Control Programme
This program ensures:
- Mass vaccination against critical animal diseases
- Veterinary service capacity building
- Disease surveillance
- Improved diagnostic and treatment infrastructure
Given the ongoing global concerns around zoonotic diseases (including the recent HPAI cases in dairy cattle), this scheme has biosecurity implications far beyond animal welfare.
📊 Analyst Take: What India’s Dairy Trajectory Means
India’s dairy sector is no longer merely a rural livelihood tool—it is now a strategic national asset. The past decade of growth demonstrates:
- A well-coordinated policy environment supporting both cooperative and private sector actors
- A shift towards modern infrastructure and genetic upgrades, laying the foundation for quality-based pricing models
- A national nutritional dividend, as more milk per person supports human development indices
- A rising role in global dairy geopolitics, especially in the context of climate-resilient animal protein
However, challenges remain—including feed cost volatility, climate-linked productivity dips, low farmer margins, and fragmented cold chain infrastructure.
The next phase must focus on market reforms, component-based milk pricing, and decarbonisation of the dairy supply chain to maintain momentum and drive equitable gains.
