The Operation Flood, launched in 1970, has ushered in the White Revolution and transformed the dairy sector in India.
Dairy cooperatives procured 660 lakh kg of milk per day in 2023-24.
The government wants to increase this to 1,007 lakh kg/ day by 2028-29.
There are about 1.7 lakh dairy cooperative societies (DCSs), which cover around 2 lakh villages (30% of the total number of villages in the country), and 22% of producer households.
These cooperative societies procure about 10% of the country’s milk production and 16% of the marketable surplus.
In the states of Gujarat, Kerala, and Sikkim, and the Union Territory of Puducherry, more than 70% of villages are covered by dairy cooperatives.
In the states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Madhya Pradesh, and the UT of Jammu & Kashmir coverage is only 10-20%.
In West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, and the smaller states of the Northeast, less than 10% of villages are covered.
The national per capita availability of milk is 459 grams/ day, which is higher than the global average of 323 g/ day.
This number varies from 329 g in Maharashtra to 1,283 gram in Punjab.
India is the world’s top milk producer, with production having reached 230.58 million tonnes during 2022-23.
In 1951-52, the country produced just 17 million tonnes of milk.