Underscoring the importance of ‘circular economy’ in the dairy sector, Union Home and Cooperation Minister, Amit Shah, on Saturday said the Centre has charted a plan to provide financial and technological support to dairies to help supplement farmers’ incomes by 20 per cent in the next five years.
“This includes the creation of three cooperatives for the agriculture sector and three for the dairy sector. I want to assure you that the circular economy will increase dairy farmers’ income by 20 per cent in the next five years,” Shah said in Gujarat’s Vav-Tharad district’s village Sanadar, where he inaugurated Banas Dairy’s bio-CNG and fertiliser plant, and participated in the ground-breaking ceremony of its milk powder plant.
‘Circular economy’ is a low-waste economic system based on the reuse and regeneration of materials and products to encourage sustainability, such as by converting cattle dung into biogas and bio-fertiliser.
“So far, our cooperative dairies have received huge success in procuring milk from farmers and returning to them the income generated from selling milk products. Now, the time has come to focus on the circular economy. You will get your share from the income generated by the dairy by selling biogas and fertiliser produced from cattle dung procured from farmers,” he told cattle rearers at the event.
The Centre has created a system wherein dairies will get the required finance and technology to adopt this circular economy model, the minister said, such as in the production of leather from hide harvested from cattle that die naturally.
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Encouraging farmers to foray into production of milk products that are in demand globally, Shah said he was confident that the targets set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi under the ‘White Revolution 2.0’ initiative would be achieved through collective efforts.
“Apart from the usual milk products like paneer and curd, there are many products that are in demand across the globe, but they are not produced in India. If we focus on those products, dairy farmers can earn extra income,” he said.
The cooperation minister also praised women dairy farmers for their contribution and efforts in strengthening the sector in the arid regions of Gujarat, saying their hard work had sent a message to NGOs around the world that advocate for women’s empowerment that women can be financially independent without “any agitation”.
Shah was also all praise for Banas Dairy’s management for successfully developing a model for circular economy in the dairy sector, saying Members of Parliament had travelled along with him to Banaskantha to understand the model.
Banas Dairy is considered Asia’s largest dairy with a turnover of ₹24,000 crore.
The minister also stated that chairpersons and managing directors of all major cooperative dairies will visit Banas Dairy in January 2026 to understand more about the initiatives taken by the cooperative.
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