Digital Transformation of India’s Dairy Sector | 15 Jan 2026

Source: PIB 

Why in News? 

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) has spearheaded the digital transformation of India's dairy sector by implementing integrated platforms and innovative tools to improve efficiency, transparency, traceability, and farmer welfare. 

What Steps have been Taken for Digitalizing India's Dairy Sector? 

• National Digital Livestock Database: The National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM) was launched to create a unified ecosystem called Bharat Pashudhan. It issues a unique 12-digit "Pashu Aadhaar" for all livestock, with over 35.68 crore tags generated to serve as the primary key for health and productivity transactions. 
• Automatic Milk Collection System (AMCS): It digitizes daily milk collection by recording quantity, quality, and fat content, automates farmer payments, and provides real-time SMS alerts to farmers and data insights to cooperatives. Covering over 26,000 Dairy Cooperative Societies, it benefits 17.3 lakh milk producers in 12 states/UTs. 
• NDDB Dairy ERP (NDERP): This comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform covers Finance, Inventory, Sales, Manufacturing, HR, and Payroll for dairy operations, accessible via web and mobile apps (mINDERP). Integrated with AMCS, it provides an end-to-end digital solution from cow to consumer, including mass-balancing in production to reduce processing losses. 
• Information Network for Animal Productivity & Health (INAPH): Captures real-time data on breeding, nutrition, and health services at the farmer’s doorstep, enabling monitoring and assessment of livestock development programs. 
• Semen Station Management System (SSMS): It manages the entire bull lifecycle, semen production, quality control, biosecurity, and farm/fodder management, along with the distribution of Frozen Semen Doses (FSDs). It is linked with Information Network for Semen Production and Resource Management (INSPRM) and INAPH to ensure real-time data sharing, traceability, and standardized operations across 38 semen stations.  
• Internet-based Dairy Information System (i-DIS): It is a centralized platform for data collection, sharing, and analysis across milk unions, federations, and allied units, tracking procurement, sales, manufacturing, distribution, and input supply to create a national cooperative dairy industry database. 
• Milk Route Optimisation using GIS: A free, web-based dynamic GIS tool provides route planning and optimisation for milk collection and distribution, reducing transportation distance, fuel costs, and time to improve operational efficiency for cooperatives. 

What is the Status of the dairy sector in India? 

• Global Position: India continues to maintain its position as the world’s largest producer of milk since 1998 (followed by the US and Pakistan), contributing about 25% of global milk output. 
  • Total milk production reached 247.87 million tonnes in 2024–25, a 3.58% increase from 239.30 million tonnes in 2023-24. 
  • India ranks 49th in milk exports. New Zealand is the world’s largest exporter of milk and dairy products, while China is the largest importer of dairy goods globally. 
• Per Capita Availability: Increased significantly from 319 grams/day (2014–15) to 485 grams/day (2024–25), indicating improved nutritional security and dairy productivity. 
• Top Producing States: As per the Basic Animal Husbandry Statistics 2025, the top milk-producing states are Uttar Pradesh (15.66%), Rajasthan (14.82%), Madhya Pradesh (9.12%), Gujarat (7.78%), and Maharashtra (6.71%). Together, these five states contribute 54.09% of India’s total milk production. 
• Growth by Cattle Category: Production increased across all major categories, with Exotic/Crossbred Cattle showing the highest growth at 4.97%, followed by Indigenous/Non-descript Cattle at 3.51%, and Buffaloes at 2.45%. 
• Contribution of Dairy in Agricultural GDP: The milk group (milk, ghee, butter, and lassi) accounted for about 40% of the total output value from agriculture, livestock, forestry, and fishing in 2022–23. 

What are the Key Challenges Facing India's Dairy Industry? 

• Climate & Environmental Vulnerabilities: Milk yields have declined sharply—by 10–30% in northern states—posing a serious risk to nearly 30% of national production, a trend driven in part by intensifying heatwaves as 2024 was confirmed by the World Meteorological Organization as the warmest year on record with global temperatures averaging 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. 
  • Outbreaks such as Lumpy Skin Disease caused a 10% output drop in 2022–23, while mastitis leads to annual losses of Rs 14,000 crore. 
• Economic Viability & Rising Costs: Over 30 years, cattle feed prices surged by 246% due to rising costs of key ingredients (e.g., oilseed cakes), severely eroding farmer profits. Rising costs risks demand destruction as milk becomes a top food expenditure item, costing Rs 314/month in rural and Rs  466/month in urban India. 
• Structural & Productivity Deficits: Average milk yields are low at 8.55 kg/day for exotic/crossbred and 3.44 kg/day for indigenous animals, with wide regional disparities such as Punjab's 13.49 kg/day versus West Bengal's 6.30 kg/day. Furthermore, over 70% of marketable milk is handled by the unorganized sector, resulting in poor quality control, inadequate cold chains, and limited credit access. 
• Breeding & Genetic Sustainability Concerns: An over-reliance on crossbreeding, with a national average of 30% reaching 96% in Kerala, risks eroding native breeds vital for biodiversity and disease resistance. The push for sex-sorted semen, aiming for 90% female calves, also raises concerns over the disposal of unproductive females, a problem exacerbated by anti-slaughter laws. 
• Environmental Footprint: Livestock account for roughly 32% of human-caused methane emissions, posing a significant climate challenge. 

How can India's Dairy Industry be Improved? 

• Genetic Improvement & Breeding Technologies: Sex-Sorted (SS) semen should be deployed to increase female calves from high-yield indigenous breeds like Kankrej and Gir, boosting the future population of milk-producing cows.  
  • Technologies like Embryo Transfer (ET) can enable a single High-Genetic-Merit cow to produce up to 12 calves yearly, while scaling In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) can allow for 33-35 calves per donor cow annually to rapidly multiply elite genetics. 
• Enhance Nutrition & Reduce Environmental Impact: Promote easily digestible forages like legumes and grains, and use specific feed additives to reduce methane emissions by shortening fermentation and inhibiting methane-producing microbes.  
  • Additionally, expand Total Mixed Ration (TMR) plants—like Amul's in Gujarat—to produce ready-to-eat, nutrient-rich fodder mixes from maize, jowar, and oat grass, and capture the released methane for biogas production to create a circular economy. 
• Digital & Precision Technologies: IoT collars and AI-based udder scanners should be deployed for the early detection of diseases like mastitis, while automated milking machines reduce contamination and labor costs. The Bharat Pashudhan database, with its 12-digit livestock IDs, must be fully implemented to track health, breeding, and milk quality for every animal. 
• Strengthen Infrastructure & Market Access: Installing solar-powered chilling units at village levels will increase formal milk processing and reduce spoilage, while equipping collection centers with quality-testing tools and improved Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) standards is essential to access premium global markets. 

Conclusion 

• India’s dairy sector, built on the cooperative legacy of the White Revolution, is now transitioning into a tech-driven, farmer-centric ecosystem. By fully leveraging digital platforms, genetic technologies, and sustainable practices, India can ensure its global leadership translates into resilient growth, fairer farmer incomes, and enhanced nutritional security for all.