Research and Markets: Dairy Industry in India: 2013-2019

       

      Dairy activities have traditionally been integral to India's rural economy. The country is the world's largest producer of dairy products and also their largest consumer. Almost its entire produce is consumed in the domestic market and the country is neither an importer nor an exporter, except in a marginal sense.

       Despite being the world's largest producer, the dairy sector is by and large in the primitive stage of development and modernization. Though India may boast of a 200 million cattle population, the average output of an Indian cow is only one seventh of its American counterpart. Indian breeds of cows are considered inferior in terms of productivity. Moreover, the sector is plagued with various other impediments like shortage of fodder, its poor quality, dismal transportation facilities and a poorly developed cold chain infrastructure. As a result, the supply side lacks in elasticity that is expected of it.

       On the demand side, the situation is buoyant. With the sustained growth of the Indian economy and a consequent rise in the purchasing power during the last two decades, more and more people today are able to afford milk and various other dairy products. This trend is expected to continue with the sector experiencing a robust growth in demand in the short and medium run. If the impediments in the way of growth and development are left unaddressed, India is likely to face a serious supply - demand mismatch and it may gradually turn into a substantial importer of milk and milk products.

Fortunately, the government and other stakeholders seem to be alive to the situation and efforts to increase milk production have been intensified. Transformations in the sector are being induced by factors like new found interest on the part of the organized sector, new markets, easy credit facilities, dairy friendly policies by the government, etc. Dairy farming is now evolving from just an agrarian way of life to a professionally managed industry - the Indian dairy industry. With these positive signals, there is hope that the sector may eventually march towards another white revolution.

       Dairy Industry in India: 2013-2019 is the third edition of this highly acclaimed publication. The study is an outcome of an intensive research of the Indian dairy industry that draws upon a comprehensive analysis of every major dairy segment in India. The study, which is based both on desk research and four waves of qualitative primary research, has delved deeply into the following aspects of the Indian dairy market.

Source: reuters/Wed Oct 30, 2013