Andhra Pradesh has recorded highest growth in terms of both milk production and per-capita milk availability at over 41 per cent and about 36 per cent, respectively, during the five year period of 2006-10, industry body Assocham said today.
However, the state ranked third in terms of milk production with over 1.1 million tonnes (mt) milk produced annually, it said.
"Milk production across India has grown at a significant rate of about 19 per cent during the aforesaid period with overall milk production crossing 121 mt mark as of 2010-11.
"But despite being the largest milk producer in the world, per-capita milk availability in India at 252 grams falls below the global average of 279 grams per person per day," a study titled 'Unlocking the growth potential of Indian dairy industry' conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) said.
New Zealand (9,773 grams), Ireland (3,260 grams) and Denmark (2,411 grams) are top three countries in terms of per-capita milk availability.
Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan (28 per cent), Kerala (24.8 per cent), Karnataka (24 per cent) and Gujarat (23.7 per cent) are the top five states in terms of clocking high growth in milk production in the country.
"It is imperative for India's dairy industry to streamline its value chain processes and integrate the smallholder dairy producers into the processing value chain in order to improve the overall performance of the industry. More so as they possess inherent strengths like low production costs, lower liabilities and limited liquidity risk," noted the Assocham study.
However, lack of knowledge and technical know-how, poor access to support services, limited access to credit and poor milk quality together limit the ability of smallholder dairy producers to take advantage of market opportunities, it said.
Growing at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over four per cent, milk production in India is expected to rise to about 177 mt by 2019-2020.
The growth rate would help in meeting the projected demand of 150 mt by 2016-17 that has been envisaged in National Dairy Plan Phase-1," said D S Rawat, national secretary general of Assocham while releasing the study.
The increase in the income level of an average Indian is being accompanied by a change in the food basket as the monthly per-capita consumption expenditure on milk and milk products in both rural and urban areas has grown significantly, the Assocham study said.