A NEW Zealand company is reportedly in the running for a joint venture setting up dairy farms in India with the Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative.
The Indian company is close to setting up a dairy project jointly with an overseas partner, either an American or New Zealand company, the Economic Times reported.
The foreign firm would be an equity partner in the project that would require an investment of 10 billion rupees ($A236.6 million), according to Iffco managing director US Awasthi.
"We will begin with 6000 high-breed cattle stocks and a processing capacity of one million litres of milk a day," he said.
India is the world's biggest milk producer, producing 108 million tonnes of milk a year - most of it consumed in the domestic market - and the demand for milk is projected to rise to 180 million tonnes by 2021.
The country's National Dairy Development Board has chalked out a 15-year National Dairy Plan requiring investment of 17 billion rupees to lift bovine productivity and milk production.
Iffco is developing a special economic zone at Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, for 1000ha of agricultural production, including dairying, with farmers owning part of the equity in the projects and co-operatives distributing the products.
A spokeswoman for Fonterra, which until recently had a joint dairy venture in India with biscuit company Britainia, said it was not involved in the Iffco project.
