Without Feed Regulation, How Will Dairy Manage Residue Compliance?
The draft amendment issued by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India under the Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2024 is far more than a routine updation of pesticide residue limits. It is a strong signal that the future competitiveness of Indian dairy will increasingly depend not only on milk production…
India’s Dairy Export Moment: Opportunity or Illusion in FY26?
Strong numbers, weak fundamentals—can India truly become a global dairy exporter? India is not constrained by production—but by product strategy, price competitiveness, and export architecture. The Trigger: Why FY26 Matters In India’s dairy sector, better farmgate prices have often followed export gains in butter, ghee, and casein—highlighting that domestic markets are yet to consistently deliver…
Truth Behind “Return of Dairy Cargo” — No Ban, But Disruption is Real
There is no confirmed advisory, restriction, or rejection of Indian dairy consignments such as butter or SMP by any Middle East country or Government authority. The narrative that “cargo is being sent back” is not backed by policy or regulatory evidence. However, dismissing the situation entirely would be equally incorrect. What is unfolding is not…
Rajahmundry Milk Incident: Accident or Adulteration?
The recent editorial “Bitter Milk” published by The Hindu raises important concerns about food safety in India. The editorial deserves appreciation for attempting to broaden the conversation and underline the need for stronger governance and enforcement in the food sector. The tragedy reported in Rajahmundry, where milk contaminated with ethylene glycol reportedly led to several…
Bengaluru Doctor Booked Over Defamatory Social Media Claims on Nandini Dairy
A Bengaluru doctor has been booked for allegedly sharing defamatory social media posts about Nandini dairy products, prompting a police complaint from the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) on grounds of harming brand reputation and consumer trust. The posts — widely circulated on social platforms — reportedly contained unverified claims about product quality and safety, triggering…
From Forecast to Fact: 2025 Lessons, 2026 Dairy Outlook
As we step into 2026, it is worth pausing to reflect on how the Indian dairy sector navigated the challenges of 2025 and how closely reality tracked the forecasts I outlined in the first blog of last year. 2025-dynamic-year-ahead-indian-dairy In January 2025, the central thesis was clear — Indian dairying would confront seasonal volatility, heat-induced…
India–NZ Dairy FTA: Safeguards or Silent Slippages?
The recently concluded India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) marks an important milestone in bilateral trade, while carefully ring-fencing India’s sensitive dairy sector. Under the agreement, core dairy products such as milk, cream, butter, cheese, yoghurt, whey and casein remain excluded from duty-free access, reflecting India’s long-standing policy to protect millions of small dairy farmers….
Planetary Health Diet and Dairy: Choosing More Than Two
I remember reading the EAT–Lancet Commission’s Planetary Health Diet report for the first time in 2019. It was being hailed as a global roadmap for feeding 10 billion people sustainably by 2050. At first glance, the concept looked noble—more fruits, more vegetables, more grains, and less of everything that comes from an animal. Then I…
Clean Milk at Risk: Farmers Hit by 18% GST on Technology
Progressive dairy farmers across India are questioning the government’s intent behind keeping essential technologies like bulk milk coolers and milking machines under the 18% GST slab. They ask: is the government not confident of their capability to adopt modern practices that ensure hygienic milk production and higher yields? Farmers argue that calling this a “farmer-friendly…
Dairy GST Cuts Bring Consumer Savings, Farmer Prosperity
India’s recent GST changes for dairy—cutting rates from 12% to 5% on ghee, cheese, and ice-cream (without chocolate), and zeroing GST on UHT milk, paneer, and chhanna—deliver significant cost relief across value-added segments. Ghee-bearing households may pocket savings of around ₹42 per kilogram, assuming full pass-through. Packaged paneer and UHT milk, now exempt, could become…