How grassroots entrepreneurship and smart processing built a rural success story
India’s dairy sector is more than an agricultural backbone. It is one of the country’s largest engines of rural employment, with women forming over 70 percent of the workforce. For many households, dairy is the first step toward economic independence. Increasingly, it is also a gateway to entrepreneurship.
Women across rural India are moving beyond raw milk supply into value-added processing, building sustainable businesses that generate income, jobs, and nutritional security at the local level.
One such journey stands out in Balasore, Odisha.
Anita Dash’s Journey From One Cow to a Scalable Business
Anita Dash began her dairy journey in 2012 with a single cow. Coming from a modest background, her goal was simple. Improve her family’s income and create better opportunities for her two children.
She started by supplying fresh milk to nearby households. As demand grew, she expanded her herd to 60 cows by 2015 and built a steady customer base.
Then came a setback. Irregular milk supply from farmers disrupted deliveries and threatened her business. Instead of scaling down, Anita changed direction.
She taught herself dairy processing by watching online videos and began producing paneer, khoya, chhena poda, and dahi rasagolla. The shift worked. Customers responded to the purity and consistency of her products, helping the business regain momentum.
Krishna Dairy and the Move to Value Addition
In 2021, Anita formally established Krishna Dairy. She transitioned from loose sales to packaged milk and dairy products, laying the foundation for a scalable brand.
To expand further, she applied for support under the PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises scheme.
With facilitation support from Palladium, which serves as the State Project Management Unit for Odisha, Anita secured a bank loan of ₹26.8 lakh.
The funding enabled her to invest in modern machinery, raising daily production capacity to five quintals. Today, her business earns a daily profit of around ₹10,000. Monthly profits range between ₹3 lakh and ₹4 lakh, and Krishna Dairy products are sold across retail outlets in the district.
Her enterprise has now crossed ₹2 crore in annual turnover.
PMFME and the Scale of Impact in Odisha
Anita’s story reflects a broader transformation underway through the PMFME scheme, implemented by the Directorate of Industries, MSME Department, Government of Odisha, in collaboration with Palladium.
The programme focuses on formalising and scaling micro food processing enterprises through:
. Credit-linked capital support
. Access to modern machinery
. Entrepreneurship and skill training
. Market and supply chain integration
In Odisha alone, the scheme has supported over 1,700 micro food processing enterprises. More than 9,300 beneficiaries have received entrepreneurship training. Seed capital support has reached over 23,400 Self-Help Group members, and more than 10,000 participants have been mobilised through workshops, fairs, and outreach programmes.
Women at the Centre of the Transformation
According to government data, women account for 35 percent of PMFME beneficiaries nationwide. The numbers underline a structural shift. Women-led enterprises are no longer confined to subsistence activity. They are becoming growth-oriented businesses with formal operations and market reach.
Shri Surya Kanta Behera, General Manager at the District Industries Centre, Balasore, noted that the scheme is enabling women to move from survival to scale by combining finance, equipment, and training.
Amit Patjoshi, CEO of Palladium India, said Anita’s journey demonstrates how access to capital, skills, and market linkages can unlock sustainable growth for micro-entrepreneurs and strengthen local economies.
A Broader Lesson From a Local Story
Anita Dash’s rise from a single cow to a ₹2 crore dairy brand is not an exception. It is a signal.
When rural women receive structured financial support, technical skills, and access to markets, small enterprises can evolve into durable businesses. Value addition, not volume alone, becomes the growth driver.
Her journey shows how India’s dairy sector, backed by focused policy intervention, is quietly reshaping rural entrepreneurship.
