India’s Dairy Industry – From the Largest, to the Best

We are all living in changing times today, but the dairy industry has undergone some revolutionary changes in the past few decades. The torchbearer of the Dairy Revolution in India was Mr. Verghese Kurien, whose birthday is celebrated as the National Milk Day. His contributions of making India’s dairy industry self-sustaining and the largest rural employer are invaluable.

India is the largest producer of milk in the world, with 188 million MT production in 2019-20. A key factor has been the proliferation of private dairy enterprises, which now account for 60 percent of the dairy processing capacity in the country. The dairy industry has grown at 12 percent in the past 5 years, the market growth is largely driven by value-added products.

The industry is undoubtedly the largest, but not yet the best. India’s per capita dairy consumption levels have been significantly lower than other developed countries. India is neither an active importer nor an active exporter in Milk sector. Sourcing and logistics, fragmentation of the unorganized sector, low nutritional value and shelf life of our home-grown milk have been the key challenges that have led to the slow growth of India’s dairy sector. There is a need for investment, especially for the small and marginal dairy farmers to catalyze Indian dairy production and exports. The cold storage and supply chain infrastructure bottlenecks are ubiquitous in the entire farm sector in India. While there are many positive changes in Indian cold chain market, high operating cost is a major roadblock.

It has been Prompt DairyTech’s endeavor to eliminate these roadblocks through provision of solutions for milk testing, accurate milk collection, increasing milk shelf life and digitization of the supply chain. We are omnipresent across the various stages of the supply chain to ensure fair payments to farmers and optimizing their earnings through transparency in the system. Milk quality control and assurance are vital steps in the dairy industry logistics, since it helps in protecting the health of producers and end consumers. The procurement of milk through world-class technologies and maintaining the milk quality have been some of the key steps undertaken by the country’s dairytech industry. Our vision to transform the Indian Dairy industry and substantially improving the lives of all stakeholders in the dairy supply chain will boost the sector in the years to come. We pledge to continue the legacy of Dr. Kurien and transform India’s dairy sector on his 100th birth anniversary!

“India’s place in the sun would come from the partnership between wisdom of its rural people and skill of its professionals” – Dr. Verghese Kurien