Photo Source: Babushahi Bureau
MP Satnam Singh Sandhu demands formation of ‘Integrated National Diary Growth Strategy’ for Indian Diary sector
‘Women Account for 70 percent of Dairy Workforce; Support to Women-Led Cooperatives and FPOs with Easy Access to Loan, Training and Infrastructure Support Needed to Strengthen Dairy Sector’: says MP Satnam Sandhu
Babushahi Bureau
New Delhi, March 13, 2026: The Union Government has introduced several initiatives to strengthen the dairy sector in the country including the Rashtriya Gokul Mission and various animal health programmes that have boosted livestock productivity significantly as a result India has emerged as the world’s largest milk producer with production increasing from about 146 million tonnes in 2014–15 to nearly 240 million tonnes now.
To sustain this growth, there is a need to focus on capacity building in the dairy sector and the government should formulate an Integrated National Dairy Growth Strategy to support its future growth.
This information was shared by Member of Parliament Satnam Sandhu while raising the issue of dairy sector through a Special Mention during the ongoing Budget Session of the Parliament on Thursday.
Raising the issue in the Upper House of the Parliament, MP Satnam Sandhu said, “The dairy sector is the backbone of our rural economy and plays a crucial role in providing the livelihoods to more than 8 crore livestock farmers all across the country.”
Stressing the need to strengthen the sector, Sandhu said, “There is a need to focus on capacity building in the dairy sector. Cooperative societies working at the grassroots level require modernization of infrastructure and expansion of processing capacity. We must also address emerging challenges such as improving productivity, strengthening fodder management, enhancing climate resilience, and promoting value addition in dairy products.”
Speaking about the policy direction required for the sector, Sandhu said, “The government should formulate an Integrated National Dairy Growth Strategy that focuses on systematic breed upgradation, digital health records for livestock and ensuring the availability of nutritious fodder for the animals.”
On medical support to livestock, Sandhu said, “Ayurveda and traditional veterinary practices should also receive scientific support so that our dependence on antibiotics in animal treatment can be reduced.”
Emphasizing the role of women in the sector, Sandhu said, “More than 70 percent of the workforce in the dairy sector consists of women. It is therefore need of the hour to empower women-led cooperative societies and farmer producer organizations by facilitating easy access to credit, infrastructure support and training.”
“The government should also provide special incentives to the dairy sector so that our cooperative structure and dairy industry can emerge as a strong pillar for the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat,” added Sandhu.
Highlighting the significant growth of India’s dairy sector, MP Sandhu said, “India has emerged as the world’s largest milk producer contributing nearly one-fourth of global output with the dairy sector has expanded by approximately 70 percent in the last one decade, contributing around 5 percent to the national economy. The availability of milk for each person in India has risen sharply over the past decade. The per capita supply has gone up by 48 percent reaching more than 471 grams per person per day in 2023–24 which is far above the world average of around 322 grams per person per day.”
It is pertinent to mention here that as per the National Dairy Development Board, there are currently 202,521 organized dairy cooperative societies operating in the country.
The board supports 23 Milk Producer Organizations out of which 16 are fully managed by women. These organizations bring together around 1.2 million milk producers from nearly 35000 villages thereby strengthening the cooperative model in expanding the country’s dairy sector and playing a key role in driving the Indian economy. These achievements are deeply rooted in the historic White Revolution that transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into one of the world’s largest producers.