Introduction
The Indian dairy industry is contributing significantly to the country's economy, besides improving the health standard
by increasing the nutritional value of the food. India occupies first position in the world having a total bovine population of
288 million compared to the world's total bovine population of 1420 million. As per 1992 livestock census, the country has
about 62.90 million breedable cows and 42.46 million breedable buffaloes. There has been a major improvement in milk
production which increased from 17 million tones in 1951 to 74.7 million tonnes during 1998-99 and the growth was
maximum between 1980 and 1990. Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra
Pradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Bihar contributed to the extent of 85 percent of the total milk production in the country.
Today, India is number one producer of milk in the world. The present per capita availability of milk is 212 gms as against
the ICMR recommendation of 250 gms.
