Bamul president D K Suresh said milk cannot be treated as a marketing gimmick as it sustains millions of farmers who work daily to supply the country’s dairy needs.
Bamul is a large arm of Karnataka Cooperative Milk Federation that owns India’s second largest dairy brand of Nandini.
The cooperative has already filed a complaint with the Competition Commission of India under Section 19(1)(a) against Flipkart’s campaign, he said, adding that he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking intervention.
Suresh alleged that the ecommerce platform was selling milk for Rs 1 through investor-funded discount campaigns, which he said undermines the dignity of farmers and the cooperative movement built over decades.
“In its rush to capture the market, Flipkart is offering one litre of milk for one rupee. This kind of practice is devastating for the farming community. Both the Centre and the state government should take immediate action. Otherwise, there could be protests across the country,” the senior Congress leader told reporters.
Suresh, the younger brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, said such deep discounting was aimed at capturing the market at the cost of dairy cooperatives.
According to him, crores if rupees had been spent on promotional campaigns to attract customers. “Investor money is being used to lure consumers. It must be made clear how long such companies can sustain selling milk at this price,” Suresh said.
He added that about 14.5 lakh litres of milk had already been sold through the campaign, backed by widespread advertisements.
Responding to questions on whether the sales of Nandini milk had been affected, Suresh said Bamul’s daily sales had fallen by about 40,000–50,000 litres, though multiple brands operate in the market.
“We are paying farmers Rs 38–Rs 40 per litre. How can milk be sold for Rs 1? We need to know from whom they are procuring the milk and where it is coming from,” the Bamul chairman said.
Bamul has also initiated checks to verify the quality of milk being sold under such campaigns, including laboratory testing to rule out the possibility of milk powder being used.
Suresh called upon dairy farmers to remain vigilant and urged governments to take preventive steps to protect the cooperative dairy sector.
