Here is the updated list of 15 most popular Dairy Companies in India that is used widely. They are also listed in Share Market and have a presence in almost all cities, towns, and villages.
What would be a world without milk like?
Tea and coffee would be black, there would be no sweets and savories, all the lip-smacking cheese, ice-creams, lassis, and so many more delicacies would cease to exist. Milk is also a rich source of protein for thousands, especially children.
It’s really tough to imagine a world without milk!
The dairy industry in India
In just a few decades, India transformed itself from a milk shortage country to a leading global milk producer. The main credit for this goes to Operation Flood, launched in 1970. This was among the largest dairy development projects in the world at that time. The legendary Verghese Kurien was the brains behind this venture. Within 30 years, this activity helped to double the milk available per head in India.
Today, India is the top milk producer in the world. It produces more than 186 million tonnes annually – more than 20% of global production. Production is growing by several percentages year on year. India is targeting to produce 300 million tonnes every year by 2022. The main milk-producing states of India are:
- Uttar Pradesh
- Rajasthan
- Madhya Pradesh
- Gujarat, and
- Andhra Pradesh
More than 80 million rural households in India are engaged in milk production. There is a huge export potential as well for Indian dairy products. Presently, some countries that import milk from India are Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the Gulf countries.
Mostly cooperative federations have been behind this stellar growth of the Indian dairy industry. The farmers and livestock breeders sell their milk directly to these federations at good prices. Some big private players are in the fray as well.
List of top 15 dairy companies in India
AMUL
Amul doesn’t need to be introduced to any Indian. Amul is one of the biggest Dairy company in India. It has almost become a synonym for dairy products in the country. Its unique advertisements are as famous as the company. It is India’s largest and most popular dairy brand.
Amul began its journey in 1946 as a small cooperative in the Anand region of Gujarat. Amul, in fact, is an acronym for Anand Milk Union Ltd. Farmers and cattle owners avoided the exploitative middlemen and sold their products directly to the cooperative.
Apart from milk, Amul also manufactures a wide range of dairy products like butter, yogurt, ice-creams, chocolate, lassi, flavored milk, paneer, and other dairy-based products that are sold in India and exported. The Amul model has been replicated in almost every state of India. It is an example of being among the most successful cooperative enterprise in the world.
Mother Dairy
Established in 1974 as part of the National Dairy Development Board, Mother Dairy was also a part of the Operation Flood project. It produces milk and milk-based products like ice-creams, yogurt, paneer, ghee, etc. Mother Dairy’s products are available across India and several other countries. Mother Dairy also supplies milk to many companies manufacturing sweets and ice-creams. The Mother Dairy milk booths are a common sight in towns and cities across the country.
Nandini
Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd – the name might not ring a bell in your mind. But the moment we say “Nandini,” many of you can recall it immediately – especially if you are from the southern part of India. It is the 2nd largest milk federation of India and among the most successful cooperative ventures in South India.
When it began operations in 1974, it became an instant success story, though limited to mostly Karnataka. Its products gained immense popularity owing to the taste and purity and its fame spread across states like Goa, Maharashtra, and other neighboring states. Apart from fresh milk, the cooperative produces yogurt, ghee, paneer, and a host of Indian sweets. The World Bank’s International Development Agency had funded this cooperative – the first such case in India.
Parag Milk Foods Ltd
Parag Milk Foods was established in 1992 in Mumbai. The company offers a range of milk products like fresh milk, flavored milk-based beverages, cheese, ghee, paneer, yogurt, milk powder, and more. Govardhan is the brand that markets traditional milk products & the Go brand includes the western lifestyle dairy items like cheese. Top Up is the flavored milk brand and Pride of Cows is the one for liquid premium milk.
Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation
This premium milk producing cooperative is based in Uttar Pradesh – the state with the highest milk production in India. Formed in 1962, this cooperative helped milk producers come together to sell milk at a competitive price, bypassing middlemen in the process. PCDF under its brand name Parag produces milk and a range of dairy products like skimmed milk powder, whole milk powder, paneer, ghee, Indian sweets, butter, and milk-based beverages.
Dudhsagar Dairy
Headquartered in Mehsana, the Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd is a member of the Gujarat Milk Marketing Cooperative Federation Ltd. the cooperative is popularly known as Dudhsagar Dairy. It is among the largest dairies in Asia. It processes more than 1.4 million kg of milk every day. It procures milk from more than 4,00,000 dairy farmers.
The cooperative produces plain milk, yogurt, buttermilk, ghee, butter, milk powder, condensed milk, ice cream, and flavored milk. The cooperative also exports its products to several locations.
Warana
The Kolhapur-based Shree Warana Sahakary Dudh Utpadack Prakriva Sangh Ltd. owns the Warana brand. It was established way back in 1955. After working as a farmers’ cooperative for a few years, it entered the milk procurement field in 1968, buying milk from the nearby impoverished dairy farmers. Today, the cooperative’s annual turnover exceeds Rs 10 billion.
Warana milk is quite popular in Maharashtra and the adjoining states. The bestseller product of the company is Warana Shrikhand. This product is available across India. The cooperative also manufactures and sells milk powder, Indian sweets, buttermilk, cheese, paneer, yogurt, lassi, and ice cream. Of late, Warana is also being exported to the Gulf countries, Africa, and Europe.
KSE Ltd
KSE Ltd is more well-known as a manufacturer of cattle feed and oil cake processing, since 1963. It entered the dairy segment in 2000. Over the last 20 years, it has built a name for itself as a premium producer of dairy products. It manufactures milk and curd under the brand name KS. The company also produces the popular Vesta ice-cream along with paneer & ghee – both under the Vesta brand name.
Britannia Industries Ltd
Britannia Industries is a renowned manufacturer of a wide range of biscuits and bread products for a long time. Its products are available in several countries, apart from every corner of India, for close to 100 years.
But Britannia Industries also has a sizeable presence in the dairy segment. It offers toned milk in tetra packs, whiteners for coffee and tea, butter, cheese, plain & flavored yogurt, cream cheese, cow ghee, and cheese spread in a variety of flavors. More than 1,00,000 stores across India sell Britannia’s dairy products. Britannia’s reputation and goodwill among the consumers are helping its dairy products to rapidly rise up the popularity charts.
Srikrishna Milks Pvt Ltd
In 1989, Srikrishna Milks was set up as Karnataka’s first private sector dairy company. It began as a 500 liter/day milk-producing company. Today, from its state-of-the-art ISO 22000-2005 certified manufacturing units, it has a production capacity of 1,50,000 liters. It’s a popular name in states like Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, etc. Apart from liquid milk, the company also produces lassi, buttermilk, flavored milk, curds, paneer, butter, ghee, and a wide variety of both north and south Indian sweets.
Dynamix Dairies
The company established its first dairy in the late 1990s. The US-based Shreiber Foods acquired a majority stake in the company in 2004. The company is among the finest dairies in India, equipped with the latest production technologies. It produces more than a million liters of milk per day. It supplies milk to various multinational food and beverage companies for producing sweetmeats. Apart from liquid milk, Dynamix also produces butter, ghee, different types of cheese, yogurt, milk powder, dairy whitener, etc.
Dynamix exports its dairy products to several countries in Africa, Asia, and Europe, apart from the USA & Canada.
Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Dairy Federation Ltd
Owing to the tireless efforts of this cooperative, Madhya Pradesh today is among India’s top milk-producing states. The cooperative markets its milk and milk products under the brand name “Sanchi.” The products are available across Madhya Pradesh and some adjoining states. The cooperative was based on the Amul model. Through the numerous milk parlors, the cooperative offers Sanchi milk, sweets, flavored milk, yogurt, and lassi. It also supplies milk in large quantities to the National Milk Grid of India.
The Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd
This state federation manufactures the Verka ghee that is immensely popular across North India. Its taste and quality have made it a household name there. The cooperative has been at the forefront of the milk production activity in Punjab since 1973. The introduction of modern technology in the processing and packaging aspects improved the product quality to a large extent – aided by continuous research & development. Apart from ghee, other products available under the Verka brand are paneer, butter, plain and flavored milk, yogurt, etc.
Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation – Milma
Formed in 1980, the Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation has more than 9.7 lakh farmers under its wings & produces more than 12 lakh liters per day. It markets the products under the “Milma” brand that is hugely popular in Kerala and the adjoining areas. Under the Milma brand, you can buy a wide range of liquid milk, ghee, butter, ice-creams, kulfi, flavored milk, milk powder, and various types of Indian sweets and confectionaries.
Milky Mist Dairy
Founded in 1992, it is among the largest private dairies in South India. It has India’s largest cheese-making unit in the Erode district, Tamil Nadu. From only 3 products in 2010, the company’s product kitty today offers more than 20 types. It has set a benchmark for production quality in the region. Apart from retail customers, a range of top-end hospitality units is also the dairy’s customers. Besides milk, the company offers paneer, cream, lassi, cheese, butter, yogurt, ghee, shrikhand, khoya, payasam, and a lot more.
List of Top 15 Dairy Companies In India
| Sl. No. | Company | Establishment | Head office | Website |
| 1 | Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (AMUL) | 1946 | Anand | https://www.amul.com/ |
| 2 | Mother Dairy | 1974 | Noida | https://www.motherdairy.com/ |
| 3 | Nandini Cow Ghee | 1974 | Bangalore | https://www.manmul.coop/ |
| 4 | Parag Milk Foods Ltd | 1992 | Mumbai | https://www.paragmilkfoods.com/ |
| 5 | Pradeshik Cooperative Dairy Federation | 1962 | Lucknow | http://www.updairydevelopment.gov.in/ |
| 6 | Mehsana District Co-operative Milk Producers Union Ltd (Dudhsagar Dairy) | 1963 | Mehsana | http://www.dudhsagardairy.coop/location/ |
| 7 | Shree Warana Sahakary Dudh Utpadack Prakriva Sangh Ltd (Warana) | 1968 | Kolhapur | http://www.waranamilk.org/operational-area.html |
| 8 | KSE Ltd | 1963 | Trichur | http://www.kselimited.com/ |
| 9 | Britannia | 1892 | Bengaluru | http://britannia.co.in/ |
| 10 | Srikrishna Milks Pvt Ltd | 1989 | Hubballi | https://www.srikrishnamilk.com/ |
| 11 | Dynamix Dairies | 1995 | Mumbai | https://www.dynamixgroup.co.in/we-own-indias-finest-dairy/ |
| 12 | Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Dairy Federation Ltd | N/A | Bhopal | http://sanchidairy.com/ |
| 13 | The Punjab State Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Ltd (Verka) | 1973 | N/A | https://www.verka.in/ |
| 14 | Kerala Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation – Milma | 1980 | Thiruvananthapuram | https://www.milma.com/ |
| 15 | Milky Mist Dairy | 1992 | Erode | https://www.milkymist.in/about.html |
