Cooperatives & Private Sector: Competing or Complementing?
India’s dairy sector stands on two strong but often polarised pillars—the cooperative movement and the private sector. Cooperatives continue to procure nearly 50% of organised milk, ensuring inclusion, scale, and price assurance for millions of farmers. The private sector, meanwhile, has driven growth in branded products, modern processing, and channel innovation.
The debate is no longer about dominance, but about complementarity. Cooperatives bring trust, reach, and aggregation strength, while private players bring agility, innovation, and market orientation. Countries with strong dairy sectors globally exhibit coexistence, not conflict, between institutional models.
In recent years, private dairies have expanded procurement rapidly, particularly in surplus states. At the same time, cooperatives are investing aggressively in value addition, branding, and technology upgrades. The lines between the two models are increasingly blurring.
Future growth will depend on collaborative frameworks—shared infrastructure, joint ventures in ingredients, contract manufacturing, and technology partnerships. Public–private collaboration can also help address systemic challenges such as seasonal surplus management, SMP stock balancing, and export market development.
A balanced ecosystem—where both models thrive and farmers benefit—is essential for long-term sectoral stability.
Session 3 - Role of Dairy Cooperatives & Private Dairy Companies in the inclusive growth of the Dairy Sector
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Dairy cooperatives and private dairy companies are both instrumental in driving the inclusive growth of dairy sector, supporting millions of rural households, catalysing value addition, and modernising supply chains.
This session will discuss how dairy cooperatives and private dairy companies, through collaboration and innovation, strengthen the value chain, raise rural incomes, and ensure equitable access to markets across the world. It will highlight flagship models with commendable examples, exploring the synergy that brings together grassroots empowerment, technology, and large-scale processing.
This session will explore models and case studies on how dairy cooperatives and private companies, working both independently and in partnership, can further advance the sector’s inclusive growth, resilience, and competitiveness in the world.
Expected outcomes of the session:
- - Understanding the cooperative models
- - Best Practices in partnership
- - Roadmap for inclusive growthChief Guest of the session:
- Thiru T Mano Thangaraj, Hon’ble Minister, Milk and Dairy Development, Government of Tamil Nadu
Esteemed Speakers:
- - Ms Mercy Rufaro Ndoro, Chief Executive, Dairibord Holdings Limited
- - Mr Abir Mukherjee, International Sales, Alpha Milk foods Private limited
- - TBC, Managing Director, Mother Dairy
- - Mr Chetan Narke, Chief Executive Officer, Chandrangan Group
- - Md. Shahidur Rahman, Manager (Quality Control), Milk