A scoop of ice cream made in Assam has crossed an international border — and it carries the ambitions of thousands of dairy farmers with it. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 that ice creams produced at the Purabi Dairy plant are now being exported to Bhutan, marking the first international foray for the West Assam Milk Producers' Cooperative Union Limited.

From inauguration to export: the Purabi journey

Just over two years ago, the ice cream plant at Purabi Dairy was inaugurated — a bet on Assam's capacity to move beyond raw milk and into value-added processing. That bet has now paid its first international dividend. Sarma called it 'a proud milestone for the dairy farmers of the West Assam Milk Producers' Cooperative Union Limited, whose dedication has made the Purabi brand a growing success.'

The cooperative model underpinning Purabi traces its lineage to Operation Flood, the landmark programme launched in 1970 by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) that built India's cooperative dairy architecture from the ground up. Assam has long sought to replicate that framework at scale — and the Bhutan export signals it is beginning to succeed.

Assam's White Revolution target: 10 lakh litres a day

Sarma was unambiguous about the destination: a 'White Revolution' for Assam, modelled on the dairy transformation that reshaped Gujarat and then the rest of India. The state's stated goal is to raise milk production to 10 lakh litres per day, building a processing and distribution ecosystem that keeps value — and income — inside the Northeast.

For years, Assam has depended on milk supplies flowing in from other states. Expanding local production and now pushing finished products across the border into Bhutan represents a structural shift: Northeast dairy output entering regional trade, not just domestic supply chains. The NDDB, tagged in Sarma's post alongside the Assam government's agricultural and export bodies, remains a key institutional partner in this scale-up.

Why the Bhutan export matters beyond the milestone

Bhutan is a small but symbolically significant first market. It sits at the intersection of India's Act East Policy and the Northeast's geographic advantage as a natural gateway to South and Southeast Asia. An Assam-made product on Bhutanese shelves is proof-of-concept — that the region can manufacture, package, cold-chain, and deliver a perishable food product across an international border.

Watch for whether Purabi's export footprint expands to other neighbouring markets, and whether Assam's daily milk output trajectory moves meaningfully toward the 10 lakh litre target Sarma has set as the benchmark for a genuine White Revolution.