The Government of India has rolled out an expansive and structured roadmap to strengthen dairy, fisheries and agricultural cooperatives, Union Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha, outlining a series of flagship schemes aimed at deepening cooperative reach and improving rural livelihoods.
Detailing measures for the dairy sector, the Minister said the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD) is playing a central role in strengthening rural dairy cooperative societies. Under NPDD Components A and B, support is being extended to improve village-level milk procurement systems, modernise milk processing and manufacturing facilities, and upgrade marketing and ICT infrastructure.
NPDD Component B is currently being implemented across nine States with the objective of enhancing farmers’ access to organised markets and strengthening producer-owned institutions. The programme also focuses on productivity enhancement and extensive training of farmers, staff, officers and boards of milk unions.
The total project outlay stands at Rs 1,568.28 crore, comprising an ODA loan of Rs 924.56 crore from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Rs 475.54 crore as Government of India grant-in-aid, and Rs 168.18 crore as State and participating institution contribution.
Shah also highlighted the launch of White Revolution 2.0 on 25 December 2024 as a cooperative-led initiative of the Ministry of Cooperation, in coordination with the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying. The programme seeks to expand cooperative coverage, create employment and strengthen women’s participation in the dairy sector. Under the initiative, 75,000 new multi-purpose dairy cooperative societies will be established and 46,000 existing societies strengthened over the five-year period from 2024-25 to 2028-29.
By the end of this phase, milk procurement by dairy cooperatives is projected to reach 1,000 lakh kilograms per day. White Revolution 2.0 is being funded under the revised NPDD and provides support for village-level milk procurement systems, milk chilling facilities, and training and capacity building.
In addition, infrastructure and liquidity support is being provided through the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF), which subsumed the earlier Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund, and through the Supporting Dairy Cooperatives and Farmer Producer Organisations (SDC&FPO) scheme that offers interest subvention on working capital loans to producer-owned institutions.
On fisheries and agricultural cooperatives, the Minister said that sector-specific schemes such as FIDF, PMMSY and PMMKSSY are being implemented, under which cooperatives are eligible beneficiaries.
The National Fisheries Development Board is facilitating the formation of 6,000 new fisheries cooperative societies during 2024-25 to 2028-29, with financial assistance of Rs 3 lakh per society, of which 1,225 have already been supported across 34 States and Union Territories.
Shri Shah further noted that the National Cooperative Development Corporation continues to play a key role in financing the sector, having cumulatively disbursed Rs 4,67,455.66 crore as on 25 November 2025.
The Minister also informed the House that the Government has approved a nationwide plan to establish new multipurpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives across all panchayats and villages over the next five years. As per the National Cooperative Database, over 30,000 new PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperative societies have been registered and more than 15,700 strengthened as on 15 November 2025, with coordinated support from NABARD, NDDB, NFDB and State and Union Territory Governments.
