Gangtok, November 3: Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Rajiv Ranjan Singh on Tuesday participated in a programme organised by the Sikkim Milk Union at Gangtok and inaugurated its Microbiology Laboratory, set up under the National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), according to a Press Information Bureau (PIB) release issued on November 3. The laboratory at Karfectar was also virtually inaugurated, and the Minister launched a Churpi Traceability initiative for the traditional dairy product and Fodder Plus products developed by Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs).

Source: PIB, Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying (Nov 3, 2026)

Addressing the gathering, Singh said Sikkim's dairy sector had grown sharply over the last decade, with milk production, cooperative societies and daily supply to consumers all rising, the PIB release said. Registration certificates were also distributed to five newly established Dairy Cooperative Societies.

79%rise in Sikkim milk production over a decade
2.45 lakh litres/daymilk production, up from 1.37 lakh litres/day
733dairy cooperative societies in 2025-26, up from 389 in 2014-15 (+88%)
56,000 litres/daydaily milk supply to consumers, doubled from 28,000 litres

The biggest announcement concerned the indigenous Siri cattle breed. Referring to his visit to Mangan, where he said local cattle yielded an average of about three litres of milk per day, Singh announced that the Central Government would sanction funds for establishing a Centre of Excellence for the conservation and development of indigenous Siri cattle in Sikkim. The proposed centre would promote advanced breeding technologies, including IVF, to improve the breed's genetic potential and milk productivity, and he invited the State Government to submit a formal proposal, according to PIB.

A day earlier, during his two-day Sikkim visit on November 2-3 to review Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying programmes, Singh had digitally launched the Siri Cattle Conservation Programme and digitally laid the foundation stone of a Siri Bull Mother Farm at Chuchachen in Pakyong district, a separate PIB release issued on November 2 said. He directed officials to prepare a comprehensive action plan for Siri cattle conservation and development, focusing on breed improvement, genetic conservation and scientific breeding, and visited an exhibition of Siri bulls, Siri cows and value-added products.

Singh also launched the North District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Ltd at Mangan under White Revolution 2.0, Indian Cooperative reported. At Gangtok, he said the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) would finance and undertake a comprehensive modernisation of the existing dairy processing plant in Mangan district, following the model implemented in Mizoram, and he called on NDDB to deploy additional human resources to help Sikkim achieve self-reliance in milk production and procurement, PIB said, citing NDDB's Varanasi intervention, where milk collection rose from 14,000 litres a day in 2022 to about 2.5 lakh litres a day and farmer prices rose from Rs 28-30 to Rs 42 per litre.

What happens next: Sikkim is to send its formal proposal for the Siri cattle Centre of Excellence, and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying is to prepare the conservation action plan the Minister directed. The announcements make Sikkim's indigenous-breed programme one of the Centre's flagship dairy interventions in the North East this year.