India’s milk output to double in 10 years’

TNN | March 29, 2019 

AHMEDABAD: India’s milk production is set to double over the next 10 years to 100 crore litres per day, from the current 43 crore litres a day, said R S Sodhi, managing director of Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) on Thursday. Sodhi was addressing a panel discussion in the city on ‘Industry as Nation Builders for New India’ organized by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) – Western Region.

“Of the current production of 43 crore litres per day, the organized sector only produces some 9 crore litres. The production by the organized sector will also increase to 30 crore litres per day, during this 10-year period,” said Sodhi. “This means that the organized dairy industry in India has a potential to create some 1.2 crore jobs over the next 10 years.”

Sodhi said the challenge is to modernize the dairy sector. “Youth from rural areas often migrate to urban pockets in search of jobs. However, it is time to show them that there is enough opportunity in the rural India. The demand for dairy products is there and will remain. In fact, the dairy and food industry are growing at a double-digit rate. No other industry can guarantee a double-digit growth over next 40-50 years,” he said.

Talking to TOI about the role of the industry in creating these jobs, he said, “The support from industry as well as government is crucial in achieving this target of creating jobs. Industries must invest in processing and marketing of dairy products, as it will help create jobs.”

Sodhi said, “At the same time, the government must also focus on providing support to the landless and marginal farmers who are at the core of the dairy sector. The budgetary allocation for livestock sector must increase significantly.”

Experts present during the panel discussion also spoke about the need to make the youth employable. “Some 2,000 engineering institutions churning out thousands of engineer still teach technology that was relevant ten years ago. They do not teach technologies of future. They’re not even entrepreneurial. If you got to create employment, you got to be updated. This is an absolute national emergency,” said Sunil Mathur, managing director and CEO, Siemens Ltd, who was also present at the discussion.