Assam eyes Northeast dairy market with 10-lakh-litre daily goal

Guwahati, July 20: Assam aims to capture the dairy market of the Northeast — but first, it wants to secure its own by 2030. As a first step towards self-sufficiency, the state government plans to ramp up daily milk production to 10 lakh litres.

"Initially, we aim to produce 10 lakh litres of milk daily. For this, we plan to set up 4,000 milk cooperatives across the state. We are not looking to produce milk in crores of litres like Gujarat or Karnataka,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said at the inauguration of Purabi Dairy’s expansion project in Guwahati on Sunday.

At present, over 850 cooperatives in Assam produce around 3–4 lakh litres of milk daily.

Stressing the need for a robust milk processing ecosystem, Sarma said such infrastructure would help the state capture a larger share of the Northeast dairy market.

“Once we start processing our own milk, we will focus on replacing the products currently imported from outside Assam. We will also target the rest of the Northeast, especially since many states in the region lack milk processing units,” he said, adding that the state aims to achieve this goal by 2030.

Incentives at work

To incentivise milk production, Sarma highlighted support for cooperatives and farmers — including seed funding and technology interventions.

“The government is providing with chit funds to milk cooperatives worth Rs 1 lakh to buy cows. We are also promoting the use of sex-sorted semen, crossbreeding of Gir and Lakhimi cows, and direct benefit transfers to support producers and rearers,” he said.

Between 2022–23 and 2024–25, the government distributed 2.16 lakh doses of sex-sorted semen, resulting in the birth of 27,748 female calves, he noted.

“Assam is already self-sufficient in fish. We must now achieve the same in pork and milk production,” Sarma added.

Gir-Lakhimi hybrid

He also underscored the importance of crossbreeding the hardy Lakhimi breed — which can withstand Assam’s floods and droughts — with high-yielding Gir cows from Gujarat.

“Gir cows can produce 8–10 litres of milk a day but struggle in Assam’s climate, which reduces yield and increases costs. Crossbreeding them with Lakhimi cows could produce a resilient, high-yielding variety that suits Assam’s conditions,” he said.

Sarma’s comments come weeks after allegations in the Garukhuti scam, in which 300 Gir cows brought to Assam were reportedly acquired by senior BJP leaders and legislators.

Reiterating the government’s stance against cow slaughter, Sarma said, “We must break the myth that one cannot sustain themselves through cattle rearing or milk production in Assam. The government does not support cow slaughter and has taken strong action in recent months.