Patna: Sudha Milk, the dairy brand owned and marketed by Bihar State Milk Cooperative Federation Ltd (Comfed), has expanded its presence in eastern India, adding to Bihar’s growing dairy sector. According to information received from PIB, milk production in Bihar increased from 7.77 million tonnes in 2014-15 to 12.85 million tonnes in 2023-24, driven by initiatives of the state and govt of India.Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday inaugurated a milk processing plant with a capacity of 20,000 litres per day at Kanyaka Dairy in Jamugurihat, Shantipur, Tezpur (Sonitpur), in the presence of Comfed chairman-cum-managing director Shirshat Kapil Ashok.The new plant will strengthen the supply of Sudha products in Tezpur and nearby areas and expand the regional distribution network. Comfed is also increasing its processing capacity and retail network to meet rising demand, officials said.Comfed began marketing Sudha packet milk and dairy products in Assam in Nov 2018 through a third-party dairy plant at Amingaon, Guwahati. Its operations later expanded to other parts of Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.The Guwahati unit now markets various Sudha products through about 2,200 retail vendors. These include packet milk, curd, paneer, curd juice, peda and milk cake. The unit sells an average of about 50,500 litres of milk daily. In the financial year 2025-26, it recorded business of Rs 121 crore and earned a profit of Rs 8 crore.Comfed has also taken steps to establish its own dairy processing unit in Assam, with a proposed capacity of 1 lakh litres per day. It has requested the Assam govt to allocate suitable land. Assam Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) has identified potential sites and shown them to Comfed officials for inspection and consideration.With rising demand for Sudha milk and value-added products in the Northeast, greater milk procurement from rural dairy farmers is expected to strengthen the cooperative network and create opportunities for new products.According to the Comfed PRO, 16-18 lakh litres of Sudha milk are currently supplied to the market daily, besides other milk products. Comfed purchases about 25 lakh litres of milk from farmers each day, while the govt aims to raise procurement to 50 lakh litres. Sudha products are also available in Delhi NCR and Kolkata.
