Bihar Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Friday, June 12, 2026, welcomed the National Dairy Development Board's move to establish a permanent office in Patna, calling it a major development for the state's milk producers, livestock farmers, and cooperative sector. The NDDB has advanced the land-allocation process, with a site near the COMFED campus in Patna identified for the new office, clearing the path for its formal establishment.

Context

In his post on X, Chief Minister Choudhary described the development as 'एक बड़ी खुशखबरी' ('a big piece of good news') for dairy producers and cooperative stakeholders across Bihar. He noted that land had been identified near the COMFED complex in Patna and that the process of land allocation had been moved forward, paving the way for the office's establishment. He expressed gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Lalan Singh for the decision.

The post was accompanied by hashtags including #विकसित_भारत ('Developed India'), #समृद्ध_बिहार ('Prosperous Bihar'), and #DairyDevelopment, signalling the initiative's alignment with the central government's broader rural-economy agenda.

Policy Backdrop

The National Dairy Development Board was established in 1965 to replicate the Amul cooperative model — known as the Anand pattern — across India. Its flagship programme, Operation Flood, launched in 1970 and running through 1996, transformed India into the world's largest milk producer and is widely credited with driving the country's White Revolution.

COMFED, the Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation Ltd, was set up in 1983 to organise village-level dairy cooperatives and connect producers to markets across the state. Despite Bihar's large cattle population, the state has historically lagged behind western and southern counterparts in dairy productivity and cooperative infrastructure. A permanent NDDB presence in Patna is expected to provide technical support, planning assistance, and training directly within the state.

Stakeholders and Impact

Bihar's dairy sector encompasses hundreds of thousands of smallholder milk producers and livestock farmers, many of them in rural districts with limited access to institutional support. A local NDDB office would reduce dependence on remote coordination and allow faster deployment of technical expertise and central-scheme resources to COMFED-affiliated cooperatives.

Chief Minister Choudhary stated the initiative would 'provide new strength to the milk cooperative movement in the state, help increase farmers' incomes, and give fresh momentum to the rural economy.' Analysts note that strengthening dairy value chains in eastern India is also seen as a lever to reduce rural out-migration by creating on-farm livelihoods.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the operationalisation timeline of the NDDB office once land allocation is formally completed. Follow-on approvals for infrastructure funding under central dairy and animal-husbandry schemes, and the scope of programmes the new office will administer, will determine how quickly benefits reach producers on the ground. The Bihar government's coordination with both NDDB and COMFED in the coming months will be closely watched as a test of the centre-state cooperative model in one of India's most populous states.