Amit Shah inaugurates Ladakh Milk Federation initiatives
Mr Shah laid the foundation stone for a dairy-processing plant in Kargil with planned capacity of 10,000 litres per day. He also introduced paneer and curd at the Leh milk plant, launched the Android-based Automatic Milk Collection System across India and commissioned a mobile laboratory for testing milk and milk products. A containerised bulk milk cooler with a capacity of 4,000 litres was inaugurated in Kargil.
The Ladakh Milk Federation and Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable signed an agreement covering the supply and retail distribution of a range of Mother Dairy products that do not compete with the federation’s own products in Ladakh. The five farmers with the highest milk deliveries in 2025–26 received awards during the event.
Mr Shah said the Kargil facility was intended to support local dairy processing and that village-level milk procurement would be digitised through the NDDB’s Mobile DCS application. He also referred to plans for a 50,000-litre-per-day processing plant in Leh, heifer-rearing centres and the availability of improved breeds. He asked the NDDB to expand the dairy network and set a target of raising daily milk procurement from 7,000 litres to 21,000 litres.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh, the minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, said programmes including the National Programme for Dairy Development and the National Livestock Mission were supporting dairy expansion in Ladakh. He called for unorganised milk producers to be connected with co-operatives under the “Sahkar se Samriddhi” approach and cited wider artificial insemination coverage and technologies such as sex-sorted semen as measures to improve breeding and productivity. He also highlighted women’s role in dairy farming.
Meenesh Shah, chairman of the National Dairy Development Board, said the board had provided professional management and transparency to Ladakh’s dairy sector under a 2022 memorandum of understanding with the Union Territory administration and the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council. The Leh plant was revived in 2023. Milk procurement grew from 74 farmers in one village to 1,700 farmers in 28 villages, reaching 7,000 litres a day. The NDDB also arranged fresh milk supplies for the Indian Army.
Mother Dairy’s fruit and vegetable operations were presented as part of efforts to broaden markets. Exhibition stalls at the programme displayed co-operative measures by the NDDB, Mother Dairy and IDMC, including consolidation of the Ladakh Oma brand and a farm-to-consumer model. Other displays covered pashmina craftsmanship, organic agricultural produce, value-added goods and climate-resilient farming practices. The event was attended by Ladakh’s lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, Union ministers and ministers of state, local officials, Member of Parliament Haji Mohd Haneefa Jan and other representatives.
