Government set to merge dairy schemes to invite private sector investment

The Indian government plans to merge two dairy schemes, the Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund (AHIDF) and the Dairy Processing and Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF), to encourage private sector investment in dairy and meat processing infrastructure.

Despite India’s position as the world’s largest milk and one of the largest poultry meat producers, the unorganised sector still dominates the livestock industry. Only 20-25% of milk is processed in India, and the aim is to increase this to 40% in the coming years. The AHIDF offers loans to private entities, farmers’ organisations, and micro-enterprises with a 3% interest subvention and a repayment period of 10 years.

The DIDF provides additional dairy processing infrastructure by cooperatives with a loan component of Rs 8,004 crore from the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, National Dairy Development Board, and National Cooperative Development Corporation. The merger will create synergy in implementation and provide better access to funds for private sector dairy and meat processing units.

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