The Assam government has launched a scheme offering a subsidy of ₹5 per litre to milk producers in the organised sector “to promote self-reliance” among dairy farmers.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched the scheme on Sunday, which will see around 20,000 dairy farmers associated with 601 dairy cooperative societies receive subsidy assistance of ₹5 per litre of milk, for up to 30 litres per day.

A provision of ₹10 crore has been earmarked for the scheme in the financial year 2025–26. This assistance will be provided to farmers supplying milk to organised dairy processing projects.

At the launch event, Sarma said Assam’s daily milk production stood at approximately 29 lakh litres, but only one lakh litres of this production is processed and made available through cooperative societies such as Purabi and Sitajakhala.

In response, the government has resolved to raise the volume of processed milk to 10 lakh litres per day to encourage greater participation from dairy farmers in the cooperative system.

“Depending on the scheme’s performance, the daily milk volume eligible for financial assistance may be revised upward in due course,” he said.

Sarma noted that, with financial support from the Assam Government, Purabi Dairy’s processing capacity increased from 60,000 litres to 1.5 lakh litres in the previous year.

He further stated that during the Advantage Assam 2.0 summit here in February, two agreements were signed, one with Amul and another with the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).

Pursuant to these agreements, Amul is setting up a facility near Rani, Guwahati, with a capacity of one lakh litres per day, while the NDDB is working to expand Purabi Dairy’s capacity to 3 lakh litres per day.

Before the launch of the subsidy scheme on Sunday, Sarma, participating in the Bhoomi Poojan ceremony organised by the West Assam Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Ltd (WAMUL) for the ₹104-crore expansion project, said: “The expansion of the Purabi Dairy plant is a crucial step towards realising our vision of a self-reliant Assam in the dairy sector. The effort will strengthen Assam’s dairy ecosystem and support rural livelihoods.”

Operated by the WAMUL under the Purabi Dairy brand, the Panjabari plant is the largest dairy processing facility in the Northeast.

The expansion is being carried out in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between WAMUL and the NDDB during the Advantage Assam 2.0 Summit held in February.