India not to import butter, other dairy products; to tap domestic sector to improve supplies: Parshottam Rupala

Union Cabinet Minister of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry, and Dairying, Parshottam Rupala has made it clear that India will not be importing dairy products like butter. He also stated that the supplies used for the dairy industry will be improved with the help of a huge untapped domestic sector.

"There is no truth in it (shortage of dairy products). No import will take place," Rupala, who is incharge of ministry of fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying, told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

He said there is no shortage of milk in the country and the government is regularly monitoring.


"The demand has increased. We have huge untapped area, we will try to tap that...We will manage it properly and there is no need to worry," he said and urged farmers and consumers not to worry about it.

On rise in retail prices of dairy products, the minister said there is no need to worry about the prices. Farmers are getting good rates.

The government, on 8th April, clarified reports regarding the possibility of import of certain dairy products by India amid speculations around the supply constraint for such items due to milk production remaining stagnant in the last fiscal.

Milk output in the country stood at 221 million tonne in 2021-22, up 6.25 per cent from 208 million tonne in the previous year, as per the official data.

Addressing a press conference, Singh had said the country's milk production remained stagnant in the 2022-23 fiscal due to lumpy skin disease in cattle, while the domestic demand grew by 8-10 per cent in the same period because of a rebound in the post-pandemic demand.

"There is no constraint in milk supply as such in the country...There is an adequate inventory of skimmed milk powder (SMP). But in the case of dairy products, especially fats, butter and ghee etc, the stocks are lower than the previous year," he had said.

The government will intervene to import dairy products like butter and ghee, if required, after assessing the stock position of milk in Southern states, where the flushing (peak production) season has started now, reported PTI citing Singh.