Madhya Pradesh’s Milk Data Fuels Political and Policy Dispute

The Madhya Pradesh administration is promoting “White Revolution 2.0”, a policy framework that seeks to double the state’s milk production and increase its share of India’s milk market to 20%. Government projections also cite gains in the productivity of indigenous cattle. According to the administration, average daily yields from indigenous cow breeds have increased by more than 40% in recent years under publicly funded breeding programmes.

Regional dairy federations have challenged the basis for those reported improvements. They point to continuing shortages of good-quality dry fodder, high prices for concentrate feed and inconsistent access to veterinary services. These groups say the conditions affecting producers do not readily support the scale of the yield gains presented in official accounts.

The main numerical dispute concerns the relationship between total production and organised procurement. Madhya Pradesh reports daily milk output in the tens of millions of litres. By comparison, the Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Dairy Federation, which sells products under the Sanchi brand, collects about 1m to 1.2m litres a day.

The federation’s purchases therefore account for only a small single-digit share of the milk volume claimed by the state. Industry observers say that a genuine surplus of the reported size would normally result in substantially higher volumes entering organised supply networks. Instead, they say, most of the milk remains with informal traders and intermediaries whose transactions are not independently verified.

The figures have also become part of a dispute over the management of regional cooperative milk unions. The state has transferred management oversight to the National Dairy Development Board under a partnership covering several years. The government describes the arrangement as a modernisation measure for processing facilities that are performing poorly, as well as for improvements to refrigerated logistics and support for district unions that are reporting losses.

Cooperative representatives have expressed scepticism about the change. Critics say disputed production estimates are being used to support broad institutional restructuring. They argue that the new arrangement could weaken local cooperative decision-making and place more operational authority at the centre. The competing positions leave the state’s production data and the future management of its dairy network linked in the same policy dispute.