UP Women Lead a ₹5,716 Crore Dairy Network

A dairy network led by women in Uttar Pradesh has established operations across 31 districts, linking more than 388,000 women shareholders in 6,603 villages. The network’s procurement system handles approximately 1.25 million litres of raw milk per day.

Members receive access to local markets through the organised procurement structure. Milk is tested digitally, and payments described as remunerative are transferred directly to producers’ bank accounts. The system also provides a formal channel for collecting and marketing milk produced by participating households.

The corporate structure consists of five producer companies: Balini Milk Producer Company, Kashi Milk Producer Company, Samarthya Milk Producer Company, Shri Baba Gorakhnath Kripa Milk Producer Company and Srijani Milk Producer Company. Together, they operate across several of Uttar Pradesh’s main milk-producing regions.

The companies cover Bundelkhand, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Bareilly and central Uttar Pradesh. Their activities extend from milk aggregation and bulk cooling to veterinary support and commercial distribution, giving the network control over successive stages of the dairy supply chain.

Arun Kumar, director of the Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihoods Mission, said that women’s direct participation in company governance and commercial supply chains had changed the economic status of livestock management. Work that had traditionally been treated as unpaid household labour is now organised as a recurring source of income through the producer companies.

According to Kumar, the arrangement has also created locally based entrepreneurial opportunities and reduced the pressure for rural distress migration. The network’s stated scale includes its shareholder base, village coverage, district presence and daily milk collection, while its five companies provide the institutional framework for procurement, services and distribution.