Milk Subsidy Scheme for Dairy Farmers (Milk Incentive Scheme)

What is the Assam milk subsidy scheme for dairy farmers?

Milk Incentive Scheme, widely reported as the Rs 5 per litre milk subsidy and described by the state as a push towards a White Revolution in Assam, is a scheme of the Directorate of Dairy Development under the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, Government of Assam. The Chief Minister of Assam launched it on 20 July 2025 at Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati.

According to the Directorate of Dairy Development, the Government of Assam approved the scheme to revitalise milk production and streamline organised milk marketing in the state, by extending an incentive of Rs 5 per litre of milk to a maximum of 900 litres per month per farmer for dairy farmers supplying milk through registered Dairy Cooperative Societies or registered farmer organisations to milk processing units in Assam.

The problem the scheme attacks is competitive, not charitable. Milk produced in Assam costs more to produce than milk trucked in from surplus states, mainly because feed and fodder are dearer and herd productivity is lower. The Directorate's own statement of objective is explicit: the incentive exists to compensate the dairy farmers against high cost of milk production such that the locally produced milk could compete with the cheap imported milk from other states of India, and to encourage formalisation of the dairy sector.

How much can a dairy farmer earn from the scheme?

The cap is the design feature to understand. At 30 litres a day, the scheme is aimed squarely at the small and medium household dairy farmer with a handful of animals, not at large commercial dairies. A farmer pouring 10 litres a day earns Rs 50 a day and roughly Rs 1,500 a month; a farmer pouring 30 litres or more earns the full Rs 4,500 a month and nothing extra beyond the cap.

That incentive sits on top of the price the society or milk union pays for the milk. It is not a price, it is an addition to the price.

Who is eligible for the Rs 5 per litre milk incentive?

The Directorate of Dairy Development lists the eligibility criteria plainly.

You can join if:

• You are a milk pourer of a functional Dairy Cooperative Society registered under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 2007, or of a registered farmer organisation.
• That society or organisation is supplying milk to a designated Milk Processing Unit in Assam.
• You have a valid bank account in operation.
• You have a valid and active mobile number for registration.
• You have a valid Aadhaar card.

You are not eligible and cannot apply if:

• You sell milk outside the organised sector; door to door, to a sweet shop, to a tea stall or to a private trader who is not part of a registered society or farmer organisation. The whole point of the scheme is to draw farmers into the organised chain, so unorganised sales are outside it.
• Your society is not functional or not registered under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 2007.
• Your society does not supply a designated milk processing unit in Assam.
• You have no operating bank account, since payment is only by DBT.
• You have no Aadhaar card or no active mobile number, both of which the Directorate lists as conditions.
• You are claiming for milk beyond 30 litres a day. Litres above the cap are paid for by the society at the normal rate but attract no incentive.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Assam milk subsidy

1. Join a functional Dairy Cooperative Society in your village, or a registered farmer organisation, that supplies a designated milk processing unit in Assam. Society membership is the gateway; without it there is no claim.
2. Confirm the society's registration. It must be registered under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 2007, and actually pouring to a designated processing unit.
3. Get your Aadhaar, bank account and mobile number in order. Make sure the bank account is active and, ideally, Aadhaar-seeded so DBT credits do not bounce.
4. Register at the society for the incentive, giving your Aadhaar number, bank account number with IFSC code and mobile number. The society consolidates member registrations for the scheme.
5. Pour milk daily and check your entry. The society's daily pouring record is what the incentive is computed on, so verify that the litres entered against your name match what you actually delivered.
6. Watch for the DBT credit in your bank account and the SMS on your registered mobile number.

How do I check whether my milk incentive has been paid?

Start at your Dairy Cooperative Society. The society maintains the member-wise pouring record and the list submitted for the incentive, and its secretary can tell you whether your name and litres went into a given cycle.

Then check your bank passbook or account statement for the DBT credit, and your registered mobile number for the payment message. If the society shows your litres submitted but the account shows no credit, the problem is almost always at the bank end, an inactive account, a wrong IFSC code, or Aadhaar not seeded — rather than at the scheme end.

For anything the society cannot resolve, the district dairy development office and the Directorate of Dairy Development are the escalation route.

Why milk incentive payments fail or fall short

• Bank account inactive, dormant or closed, so the DBT credit bounces.
• Wrong account number or IFSC code given at registration.
• Aadhaar not seeded to the bank account, which stops DBT in many cases.
• Pouring record understated: litres delivered but not entered against the right member number.
• Litres above the 30 a day cap, which are simply not counted for incentive.
• Society lapsed or not supplying a designated processing unit during the period claimed.
• Two members of the same household registered against the same pouring, which invites scrutiny.

Where does this fit in Assam's dairy push?

The incentive was launched alongside a physical expansion of processing capacity. On the same day, a bhoomi pujan was held for expanding the processing capacity of the West Assam Milk Producers' Co-operative Union Ltd (WAMUL) facility in Guwahati, which markets under the Purabi brand and is among the largest dairy units in the North East. The reported expansion, costed at about Rs 104 crore, takes the plant from 1.5 lakh litres a day towards 3 lakh litres a day.

The pairing is deliberate. An incentive that pulls more farmers into the organised chain is only useful if there is somewhere for the extra milk to go. The Directorate lists among the scheme's expected benefits the enhancement of the capacity of existing milk processing facilities and establishment of new processing units in the state, alongside reviving existing Dairy Cooperative Societies, increasing state milk production and improving farmer profitability.

What if there is no Dairy Cooperative Society in my village?

Society membership is the condition, so a farmer in a village with no functioning society has to start there. The Directorate of Dairy Development publishes Guidelines for Dairy Cooperative Society Formation and maintains information on milk unions, and the district dairy officer is the right person to approach about reviving a defunct society or forming a new one. Registration under the Assam Co-operative Societies Act, 2007 and a supply link to a designated milk processing unit are the two things a new society will need before its members can claim the incentive.

Help and grievance redressal

• Your Dairy Cooperative Society secretary, first stop for registration, pouring records and payment queries.
• District dairy development office for society-level and payment problems the secretary cannot resolve.
• Directorate of Dairy Development, Government of Assam, at dairy.assam.gov.in, which hosts the scheme page, the society formation guidelines and the milk union information.
• Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Department, Government of Assam, as the administrative department.

Registration under the scheme is free. The incentive is paid only by bank transfer, so nobody at a society or a processing unit has any authority to deduct a cut from it, and no government officer will ask a farmer for a bank OTP.