With an annual dairy output worth over Rs 12,500 crore, Gujarat, which heralded the White Revolution in the 1960s-70s, has acquired the highest share of about 21 per cent in terms of the total dairy output worth around ₹60,000 crore across the top 20 States in India, according to an Assocham study on the dairy sector.
“However, with 12 per cent share, Gujarat ranks third in terms of generating direct employment in the dairy sector. Besides, the State ranks fourth with a share of about 7.5 per cent in 1,493 dairy factories across India,” a study titled ‘Unlocking growth potential of Indian dairy industry,’ conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), said on Friday.
In terms of milk production, Gujarat is ranked fifth with about eight per cent share across India in total milk production of over 120 million tonnes (mt). Besides, Gujarat has recorded the fifth highest growth rate of about 24 per cent in milk production, which is above the all-India growth rate of about 19 per cent, the study prepared by the Assocham Economic Research Bureau (AERB) said.
The State ranks fifth in terms of per-capita milk availability and has clocked a growth rate of about 17 per cent in this regard, well above the all-India growth rate of 12 per cent.
While Andhra Pradesh has recorded the highest growth in terms of both milk production and per-capita milk availability, thereby clocking a growth rate of over 41 per cent and about 36 per cent during the five-year period of 2006-10, the southern State ranked third in terms of milk production with over 1.1 million tonnes of milk produced annually.
Rajasthan (28 per cent), Kerala (24.8 per cent), Karnataka (24 per cent) and Gujarat (23.7 per cent) are among the top five States in terms of clocking high growth in milk production.
"Milk production across India has grown at a significant rate of about 19 per cent during the aforesaid period, with the overall milk production crossing the 121-mt mark as of 2010-11 but despite being the largest milk producer in the world, per-capita milk availability in India at 252 grams falls below the global average of 279 grams per person per day," said D.S. Rawat, National Secretary-General, Assocham.
Streamlining the value chain processes and integrating the smallholder dairy producers into the processing chain could improve the industry’s performance as it already has inherent strengths like low production costs, lower liabilities and limited liquidity risk.
New Zealand (9773 grams), Ireland (3260 grams) and Denmark (2411 grams) are the top three countries in terms of per-capita milk availability.
Growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over four per cent, milk production in India is expected to rise to about 177 mt by 2019-2020. It would help meet the projected demand of 150 mt by 2016-17 as envisaged in the National Dairy Plan Phase-1, he said.
Uttar Pradesh commands the highest share of over 17 per cent in total milk production, followed by Rajasthan (11 per cent), Andhra Pradesh (nine per cent), Punjab and Gujarat (about eight per cent each, which are among the top five States with a combined share of over 53 per cent.
Punjab has recorded the highest per-capita milk availability of 937 grams, followed by Haryana (679 grams), Rajasthan (538 grams), Himachal Pradesh (446 grams) and Gujarat (435 grams).
“Concentration of milk production in some pockets together with high cost of transportation has led to rising disparity amid States in terms of per-capita milk availability,” noted the Assocham study.