A three-day workshop on “Entrepreneurship in the Dairy Sector: Opportunities, Innovation, & Enterprise Development” began at the ICAR–National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal, bringing together around 15 leading dairy exporters, researchers, experts and other stakeholders to discuss strengthening India’s dairy export ecosystem and expanding opportunities in global markets. The workshop is being attended by 118 participants.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Dheer Singh, Director, ICAR–NDRI, highlighted the opportunities and challenges facing Indian dairy exports and the need for appropriate policy and institutional interventions. He stressed that India should intensify efforts to reduce dairy imports while increasing exports, and said dairy research must remain aligned with economic viability and market relevance so that it creates tangible industry impact.
A key feature of the opening day was a stakeholder consultation on India’s dairy export ecosystem, organised by the Division of Dairy Economics, Statistics & Management (DES&M), ICAR–NDRI. The consultation was co-chaired by PS Birthal of RIS, New Delhi, and Anjani Kumar of IFPRI, New Delhi, while Birthal delivered a keynote address on transforming the dairy sector through technology, institutions and entrepreneurship.
The technical session featured Rajesh Chatterjee, founder of Milkio Foods, who presented a practical toolbox for aspiring dairy exporters. The remaining two days are focused on innovation-driven dairy enterprises and emerging opportunities, including camel milk and artisanal cheese, along with branding and packaging, entrepreneurial skills, business-model development, intellectual property rights, technology commercialisation and enterprise development.
The workshop, coordinated by the DES&M faculty team, underlines a broader shift from viewing dairy only as a production sector to treating it as an export-oriented, innovation-driven business. Strengthening entrepreneurship, technology adoption, market knowledge and value-added product development could be critical to expanding India’s presence in international dairy markets.
Source: Dairynews7x7 09 Sep, 2026 Read full story here
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