We should achieve target of 330 MMT milk production by 2033-34: Shah

Gandhinagar: Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said that India should set a target to contribute 330 million metric tonnes (MMT), or 33 per cent of global milk production by 2033-34, stressing the need to also produce milk by the masses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is working for the 360-degree growth of the dairy sector, Shah said at the 49th Dairy Industry Conference organised by Indian Dairy Association here.

“We should not content ourselves with becoming the world’s largest milk producing country. If two lakh new primary milk producing committees are formed (at panchayat level), then in coming years, there is the possibility of India becoming the contributor of 33 per cent of global milk production,” Shah said, while calling for the need to explore this possibility.

“We have to move ahead to achieve the target of producing 330 MMT, or 33 per cent of milk globally by 2033-34,” he said. According to the Indian Dairy Association, the country’s milk production is now 220 MMT. “To achieve this, the central government and state governments, as well as cooperative movements should work together. We have to make production by masses a ground reality while maintaining mass production,” he said.

He said India should also work in the direction of becoming the largest exporter of milk processing equipment apart from being the world’s largest producer of milk.