Buoyed by rising milk production in India, global milk output is expected to rise by almost 3 per cent to 750.1 million tonnes (mt) in the current calender year. United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation, FAO, said in its latest Food outlook report World milk production in 2012 is forecast to grow by 2.7

per cent to 750 mt. It said Asia is expected to account for most of the increase, with output in India, the world's largest milk producing country, forecast to rise by 5.2 million tonnes to 127 million tonnes. It added dynamic domestic demand is the main engine stimulating growth in India, which is largely absent from the international market for dairy products, .

As per India's National Dairy Development Board (NDDB),the country produced 121 mt of milk in 2010-11 fiscal, which comprised about 17 per cent of global production.

According to the government data, the per capita milk availability rose to 281 gm per day in 2010-11 against 278 gram per day in 2009-10 on account of growing output.

FAO added, Asia will continue to be the main market, with additional demand expected to come from countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea and Singapore.