The trajectory of the cooperative shifted dramatically with the arrival of Dr. Verghese Kurien, universally recognized as the Father of the White Revolution. Armed with advanced engineering and managerial expertise, Dr. Kurien industrialized Amul’s operations, introducing groundbreaking processing technologies to the region. His most defining technological milestone was achieving the world-first commercial production of skim milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk, a breakthrough that European experts previously claimed was scientifically impossible.

This localized success in Gujarat caught the attention of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, who mandated the replication of the “Anand model” on a national scale. This directive led to the creation of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the launch of Operation Flood in 1970. Designed as the world’s largest dairy development program, this multi-phased initiative linked rural milk producers directly with urban consumers through a sophisticated, three-tiered cooperative structure, effectively eliminating predatory middlemen.

The macroeconomic results of this cooperative model have been nothing short of staggering, permanently altering international dairy trade dynamics. Through Operation Flood, India transformed from a severely milk-deficient country reliant on foreign food aid into a completely self-sufficient producer. By 1998, India officially surpassed the United States to become the world’s largest milk-producing nation, a crown it continues to hold securely into the late 2020s.