The Department of Animal Husbandry & Dairying (DAHD) has been actively implementing the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) since February 2014. Providing an update in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on March 19, 2025, Union Minister of State for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, Prof. S.P. Singh Baghel, highlighted the scheme's progress. In July 2021, the scheme underwent restructuring to enhance its effectiveness, with a focus on strengthening dairy infrastructure and expanding market access for farmers. The program, now set to run until 2025-26, consists of two major components aimed at transforming India’s dairy sector.
Component A focuses on improving milk quality testing and chilling facilities, benefiting State Cooperative Dairy Federations, District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Unions, SHGs, Milk Producer Companies, and Farmer Producer Organizations. Meanwhile, Component B, titled "Dairying through Cooperatives," aims to increase milk sales, upgrade dairy processing infrastructure, and expand organized market access for farmers.
Over the last five years (2019-20 to 2023-24), 110 projects have been approved under Component A, with a total investment of Rs. 2,247.46 crore, including Rs. 1,658.29 crore from the Central government. Component B has seen 22 projects sanctioned, amounting to Rs. 1,130.62 crore, with contributions from loans, grants, and participating institutions. Out of the total 132 projects, 52 have already been completed. In Tamil Nadu alone, four projects worth Rs. 177.61 crore have been approved, of which two have been successfully completed.
The scheme has significantly boosted the dairy cooperative network, leading to the organization of 16,041 dairy cooperative societies and the enrollment of 15.31 lakh farmers. Tamil Nadu’s dairy sector has particularly benefited, with 3.79 lakh farmers from 9,235 cooperative societies securing fair prices for their produce.
Further expansion of dairy infrastructure has been achieved under the NPDD scheme, with dairy plant capacity increasing by 1.82 lakh liters per day between 2021-22 and 2023-24. Tamil Nadu has additionally developed milk processing plants and value-added product facilities under various funding programs, including PMFME, NADP, TCMPFL, NABARD, and Milk Union Funds. These initiatives have established paneer, ice cream, butter, ghee, and curd production plants across multiple districts, enhancing processing and distribution capabilities.
A key boost under Component B has come from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which provides subsidized loans at a 1.50% interest rate to support dairy infrastructure development, benefiting farmers and cooperative societies.
