The Real Roadblocks to Indian Dairy's Global Ambitions

India, while being the world's largest milk producer at 240 million tonnes annually, contributes less than 0.5% to global dairy exports, in contrast to the US's 6.7%. Despite the potential opening created by retaliatory tariffs against American dairy, India faces significant structural challenges. India’s dairy exports focus more on butter and milk fats, with fresh cheese and curd accounting for less than 6% of its exports, compared to 52% for the US.

Furthermore, India's largest dairy export markets – Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain – are driven by proximity and cultural preferences rather than global competitiveness. Indian dairy faces high production and processing costs, exacerbated by weak logistics and stringent international quality standards that it struggles to meet, such as the EU’s Residue Monitoring Plan. To genuinely capitalize on global opportunities, India must address these issues by enhancing milk quality, processing infrastructure, cold chains, and export-oriented R&D.