Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Australia

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Last Updated31/12/2021

Recently, the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) has said that Indian farmers will oppose the CECA between India and Australia if it throws open the country’s dairy sector for Australian dairy majors

India is negotiating with Australia CECA covering trade in goods, services, investment and related issues.
There were nine rounds of negotiations before both countries decided to suspend negotiations in 2015, pending the outcome of other multilateral regional negotiations.
India and Australia have been in discussion for concluding“full” CECA by the end of 2022, but both sides have fast-tracked the process to secure an interim agreement before that.

World’s largest dairy herd: India has the world's largest dairy herd with over 300 million bovines, producing over 187 million tons of milk.
Production: India's milk production is growing by 35.61% during the last six years to 198.4 million tonnes in 2019-20.
The rural sector has an estimated share of 57 per cent in the total consumption.
India continues to be the largest producer of milk in the world.
Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab continued to be the major milk-producing states.
Self-sufficient: India is first among all countries in both production and consumption of milk. India is largely self-sufficient in milk production.
Domestic consumption: Most of the milk is domestically consumed, though a small fraction is also exported.
GDP: As of 2020, approximately 4.2% of India's gross domestic product was due to dairy production.
Indigenous breeds: The population of indigenous breeds of cattle have steadily been decreasing, while that of the more productive exotic and crossbred breeds has been increasing.
Contribution of Dr Verghese Kurien: India's success story in milk production was scripted by Dr Verghese Kurien, known as the ""Father of the White Revolution'' in India