Dairy and Livestock Sector in India

India’s dairy dominance is decades old. Its livestock sector’s digital backbone is brand new. Every animal now gets a 12-digit barcoded ID, and by December 2025, nearly 36 crore of them had already been registered.

📑 Contents

1Timeline
2Dairy Scale and Digital Livestock IDs
3Bharat Pashudhan Platform and Sector Schemes
4Test Yourself
5White Revolution 2.0 and State-Level Progress
6Current Affairs

Timeline

2019: The 20th Livestock Census records India’s bovine population at 303.76 million, the world’s largest.
2020-21: The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) is launched.
December 2025: The National Digital Livestock Mission’s Pashu Aadhaar rollout crosses 35.96 crore registered animals.
21 July 2026: In a Lok Sabha reply, the government confirms there is still no milk MSP, and details AHIDF and NDLM’s current progress.

Dairy Scale and Digital Livestock IDs Need to Know

India is the world’s largest milk producer, contributing about 25% of global output.
Milk production rose from 146.31 million tonnes in 2014-15, to 239.30 million tonnes in 2023-24.
India also holds the world’s largest bovine population. The 20th Livestock Census (2019) recorded 303.76 million cattle and buffalo, part of a total livestock population of 535.78 million.
There is no Minimum Support Price (MSP) for milk in India. Prices are set by dairy cooperatives and private dairies, based on market conditions.
The Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF), launched in 2020-21, supports investment in dairy processing, meat processing, animal feed plants, and value-addition infrastructure.
The National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM) runs on a platform called “Bharat Pashudhan.” Every registered animal gets a unique 12-digit barcoded ear tag, popularly called a “Pashu Aadhaar.”
As of December 2025, 35.96 crore Pashu Aadhaar IDs had been issued and registered nationally.

Bharat Pashudhan Platform and Sector Schemes Good to Know

India’s dairy dominance traces back to Operation Flood, the White Revolution, launched in 1970. See IndEco0128 — The White Revolution, for its full history.
The government also runs the National Livestock Mission (NLM) and the Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP), alongside AHIDF.
The Rashtriya Gokul Mission, running since December 2014, promotes scientific, holistic conservation and rearing of indigenous cattle and buffalo breeds. It matters for the rural poor especially, since most low-producing indigenous animals belong to small and marginal farmers and landless labourers.
Bharat Pashudhan records each animal’s registration, breeding activity, ownership changes, vaccinations, e-prescriptions, disease reports, and milk output, all against its Pashu Aadhaar ID.
The NDLM portal uses AES-256 encryption and Transport Layer Security (TLS), for government-grade data protection.
Mobile Veterinary Units are not yet integrated with the NDLM portal, as of July 2026. No request for banking API integration has been received either.
India’s per capita milk availability reached 459 grams per day in 2022-23. That is well above the world average of 322 grams per day.

Test Yourself

White Revolution 2.0 and State-Level Progress Great to Know

In Maharashtra alone, 113 AHIDF projects worth ₹4,700.13 crore have been approved, with ₹123.46 crore in interest subvention released.
White Revolution 2.0, launched 19 September 2024, aims to raise dairy cooperatives’ milk procurement by about 50% over five years.
Livestock is disproportionately held by small and marginal farmers, scattered across villages. This makes market access and service delivery uniquely difficult, which is part of why a national digital livestock database matters.
India’s livestock sector connects to its wider dairy cooperative story. See IndEco0201 — Amul, for the cooperative that helped build the model much of this infrastructure now supports.

Current Affairs

On 15 August 2026, the government announced that Union Home Minister Amit Shah would lay the foundation stone for a new dairy plant. The event, on 16 August, is at the Alwar Saras Dairy Complex in Rajasthan. (Source: PIB)
The same event also e-inaugurates Dairy Processing Plants and Cattle Feed Plants, across various milk unions. It falls under PM Modi’s “Sahkar se Samriddhi” cooperative-development vision. (Source: PIB)
On 5 August 2026, in a Rajya Sabha reply, Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh updated milk production figures. Output reached about 248 million tonnes in 2024-25, up from 146 million tonnes in 2014-15. (Source: Dairy Industry Expo News)
Average milk productivity, per animal per year, has also risen. It grew from 1,648 kg in 2014-15, to 2,251 kg in 2024-25. (Source: Dairy Industry Expo News)
On fodder security, the National Livestock Mission released ₹1,152.40 crore over five years. This produced about 1.6 lakh tonnes of quality fodder seed. (Source: Dairy Industry Expo News)
Separately, AHIDF has supported 174 animal feed plants, worth ₹3,602.47 crore. NDDB has also formed 100 Fodder-Plus Farmer Producer Organisations, to strengthen supply chains. (Source: Dairy Industry Expo News)
A day earlier, on 4 August 2026, ICAR scientists dedicated India’s first indigenous African Swine Fever vaccine to the nation. It was developed at ICAR-NIHSAD, Bhopal. (Source: PIB)
ASF outbreaks have caused major losses since 2020: about ₹276 crore in Assam, and ₹982 crore in Mizoram, across more than 11,382 affected households. (Source: PIB)
On 22 July 2026, the government detailed veterinary and White Revolution 2.0 progress in a Rajya Sabha reply. The Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme funds 100% central assistance for FMD, Brucellosis, PPR, and Classical Swine Fever vaccination. (Source: PIB)
India now runs 4,019 Mobile Veterinary Units across 29 states and UTs, under this programme’s dispensary-strengthening component. (Source: PIB)
White Revolution 2.0 targets 75,000 new Dairy Cooperative Societies, and strengthening 46,422 existing ones, by 2028-29. It has already formed 67,433 societies, ahead of its 54,442 target for March 2026. (Source: PIB)
Average cooperative milk procurement reached 700 lakh litres a day in 2025-26. NDDB is also modernising dairy plants, with digital tools now handling farmer payments in real time. (Source: PIB)
On stray dogs, the government pointed to the Animal Birth Control Rules, 2023, for humane sterilisation and anti-rabies vaccination. States can also fund dog shelters, under the 2026-27 Special Assistance for Capital Investment scheme. (Source: PIB)
The National Action Plan for Dog-Mediated Rabies Elimination targets eliminating it by 2030. This follows a Supreme Court direction, dated 19 May 2026, to properly implement the Animal Birth Control Programme. (Source: PIB)
21 July 2026: In a Lok Sabha reply, the government confirmed there is still no proposal for a milk MSP. It also detailed AHIDF’s Maharashtra progress (113 projects, ₹4,700.13 crore), and NDLM’s current status, including its encryption standards and pending Mobile Veterinary Unit integration. (Source: PIB)