New Milk Federation to Unite 20L Indian milk Producers

By DairyNews7x7•Published on July 06, 2025

A major move is underway to establish a new pan-India milk federation aimed at integrating nearly 20 lakh milk producers across the country. The proposed body seeks to provide a common platform for farmers to access better pricing, streamline procurement, and enhance market linkages. It will also focus on training, breed improvement, digitized milk testing, and value-added product promotion.

The initiative intends to reduce dependence on state-level politics in cooperatives and boost transparency and scale. The federation is being designed with input from policy experts, dairy technocrats, and farmer representatives to ensure farmer-first governance. It will also explore linkages with export markets and institutional buyers to diversify income streams.

The soon-to-be-announced Sardar Patel Co-operative Dairy Federation (SPCDF) will bring together the relatively unorganised farmers from 20 states who currently pour nearly 100 lakh litres of milk per day (LLPD) through 20,000 ‘mandalis' and significantly supplement their incomes.

The federation, registered on 3rd July 2025 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, will engage in the collection and processing of milk across 20 states and 2 Union Territories, including Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Goa, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.

With Jayen Mehta as its chief promoter, the cooperative is backed by an initial corpus of Rs 200 crore. Its primary objective is to bring together small and unregistered dairy farmers outside Gujarat, enabling them to become cooperative members and improve their livelihoods through collective participation.

Amul will now sell salt procured from salt pan workers of Kutch, Shah announced. The responsibility of making this venture successful has been given to the Vice Chairman of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) Valamji Humbal. Humbal, who is the chairman of Sarhad Dairy of Kutch, is currently serving as the vice chairman of the GCMMF, popularly known as Amul.

Shah urged the sector to follow the five ‘P’s — ‘people,’ ‘PACs,’ ‘platforms’, ‘policy’ and ‘prosperity’ — for it to thrive. People, he said, was to mean that the citizens of the country are the beneficiaries of all these initiatives. By PACS, he meant that his government was strengthening these bodies.

Gujarat is also the headquarters of the 1965-established National Dairy Development Board. Sources said the governing structure of the new federation will comprise multiple stakeholders, including a GCMMF representative (20% equity), representatives of 10 milk unions of Gujarat (60% equity), and three board members representing farmers from outside Gujarat (20% equity).

This fresh chapter in India's cooperative sector is being scripted from ‘Milk City' Anand, also the birthplace of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets the $11 billion homegrown brand Amul.

These farmers, who operate from a relatively informal setup at present, will get the benefits of various govt schemes.

Industry Insight:

This unified model could shift the power balance from legacy cooperatives to farmer-led, tech-enabled systems. Private players and exporters should watch this development for partnership potential and shifts in milk procurement dynamics.

SOURCE : Dairynews7x7 July 6th 2025 TOI