Union minister for fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh has informed the Lok Sabha that the government is implementing several initiatives to strengthen India’s dairy and livestock sector by expanding infrastructure, improving veterinary healthcare, promoting digital livestock management and supporting dairy farmers.
Replying to a question on milk pricing, Singh said there is no proposal to introduce a minimum support price (MSP) for milk. He explained that milk prices are determined by dairy cooperatives and private dairies based on market conditions.
The government, he said, continues to support dairy farmers through various schemes aimed at increasing milk procurement, expanding processing capacity, strengthening village-level dairy cooperative societies, improving milk quality testing facilities and creating modern dairy infrastructure across the country.
To a question on the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF), Singh said the scheme is promoting investment in dairy processing, meat processing, animal feed plants and value-addition infrastructure.
The minister informed the House that the department regularly conducts awareness programs, stakeholder meetings, training sessions and outreach activities through state governments, common service centers and industry associations to ensure wider participation. The infrastructure created under AHIDF is improving market access and helping livestock farmers obtain better returns for their produce, he said.
Replying to a question on the National Digital Livestock Mission (NDLM), Singh said that every registered animal is assigned a unique 12-digit Tag ID, enabling digital recording of vaccination, breeding, treatment and other veterinary services throughout the animal’s life.
The minister stated that the portal uses AES-256 encryption and Transport Layer Security (TLS) to ensure government-grade protection of livestock data. He informed the House that Mobile Veterinary Units are not yet integrated with the portal and no request for banking API integration has been received so far.
Answering a question on dairy development, Singh said that the government is implementing several flagship programs to enhance milk production, improve farmers’ incomes and generate rural employment.
The minister highlighted that schemes such as the National Livestock Mission (NLM), Livestock Health and Disease Control Programme (LHDCP) and Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) are supporting entrepreneurship, breed improvement, disease control, veterinary infrastructure and affordable veterinary medicines. He said 113 AHIDF projects worth ₹4,700.13 crore have been approved in Maharashtra, with interest subvention of ₹123.46 crore released.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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