The Union Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved an updated version of the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD).
With an additional allocation of ₹1,000 crore, the total budget for the programme now stands at ₹2,790 crore for the 15th Finance Commission cycle (2021-22 to 2025-26). This revized plan aims to modernize and expand India’s dairy infrastructure, boosting the sector’s growth and productivity.
The revized NPDD focuses on building infrastructure for milk procurement, increasing processing capacity, and ensuring better quality control. By improving market access, enabling value addition, and streamlining the supply chain, the programme aims to help farmers secure better prices, increase their incomes, and drive rural development.
The scheme consists of two key components:
Component A: This focuses on strengthening essential dairy infrastructure, including milk chilling plants, advanced milk testing labs, and certification systems. It also aims to create new village dairy cooperative societies and enhance milk procurement and processing in the North Eastern Region (NER), hilly areas, and Union Territories (UTs), especially in remote and underdeveloped regions. Additionally, two Milk Producer Companies (MPCs) will be formed with dedicated grant support.
Component B: Known as “Dairying through Cooperatives (DTC),” this part of the scheme focuses on sustainable dairy development through collaboration with the Government of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It aims to improve the production, processing, and marketing infrastructure of dairy cooperatives in nine states, including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) has already made a significant socio-economic impact, benefitting over 1.87 million farmers and creating more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. It has also boosted milk procurement capacity by an additional 10.09 million litres per day. By promoting advanced technology for milk testing and quality control, NPDD has strengthened 51,777 village-level milk testing laboratories and installed 5,123 bulk milk coolers with a combined capacity of 12.33 million litres. Additionally, 169 laboratories have been upgraded with Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) milk analyzers, and 232 dairy plants now have systems to detect adulteration.
The Revized NPDD aims to establish 10,000 new Dairy Cooperative Societies in the North Eastern Region (NER) and form two Milk Producer Companies (MPCs) with dedicated grant support. These initiatives, along with ongoing NPDD projects, are expected to create 320,000 more direct and indirect jobs, with a focus on empowering women, who make up 70% of the dairy workforce.
By aligning with White Revolution 2.0, the Revised NPDD aims to modernize India’s dairy infrastructure, offering better technology and quality testing to support new cooperatives. This program not only strengthens the dairy industry but also improves rural livelihoods, generates employment, and benefits millions of farmers and stakeholders nationwide.
