Bihar’s dairy cooperative network is taking its SUDHA brand deeper into the North-East, where rising milk demand is creating opportunities for organised dairy businesses. Bihar State Milk Co-operative Federation Ltd. (COMFED) has commissioned a 20,000-litre-per-day milk processing plant in Assam, while exploring a much larger facility to support its regional operations.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma inaugurated the new plant at Kanyaka Dairy in Shantipur, Jamugurihat, in Sonitpur district on October 8. Shirsat Kapil Ashok, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of COMFED, attended the event.
The facility is expected to strengthen supplies to Tezpur and neighbouring areas, adding processing capacity closer to the markets that COMFED serves under the SUDHA brand.
From Guwahati to a wider regional market
COMFED entered Assam’s retail dairy market in November 2018, initially marketing SUDHA products in Guwahati through a third-party facility at Amingaon. Its distribution network has since extended to other parts of Assam and neighbouring Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh.
The scale of its current business suggests that the North-East has become a significant market for the Bihar federation. COMFED’s Guwahati unit distributes pouch milk, curd, paneer, lassi, peda and milk cake through approximately 2,200 retail outlets.
The unit’s average daily milk sales stand at around 50,500 litres. In 2025–26, it recorded a turnover of ₹121.17 crore and a profit of ₹8.06 crore, according to figures provided by COMFED.
These numbers offer a measure of the business already established in the region. The latest plant adds to the infrastructure supporting that business, while the proposed expansion points to the federation’s longer-term ambitions.
A larger processing facility on the horizon
COMFED is also seeking to establish its own dairy processing facility in Assam, with a proposed capacity of one lakh litres per day. It has requested land from the state government, and the Assam Industrial Development Corporation has identified potential locations for consideration.
The proposal remains subject to the next stages of project development. If implemented, the facility would provide substantially greater processing capacity than the newly inaugurated plant.
COMFED’s earlier efforts to secure processing arrangements in Upper Assam are also documented in a 2024 tender that identified locations including Jorhat, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Tezpur.
Demand outlook puts infrastructure in focus
The expansion comes against a projected increase in Assam’s consumption of milk and milk products. An NDDB assessment estimated household demand at 89.87 lakh litres per day by 2030, highlighting the potential scale of the state’s future dairy market.
For dairy operators, meeting demand across geographically dispersed markets requires processing, packaging and distribution arrangements suited to local requirements. COMFED’s expanding infrastructure offers one approach to serving these markets through an established dairy brand.
The cooperative dimension
The principle of cooperation among cooperatives offers scope for collaboration in technology, processing, distribution and market access. However, the extent to which COMFED’s regional growth benefits Bihar’s milk producers will depend on its procurement arrangements and the relationship between sales growth and milk collection through village-level dairy cooperatives.
For now, the Assam expansion represents a growing inter-state business for a federation rooted in Bihar’s dairy cooperative system. Its next phase will depend on how effectively COMFED combines additional processing capacity with market development and sustainable operating arrangements across the North-East.
