Dairy co-operative brands Amul and Nandini had submitted their bids to operate state-owned Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) on long-term lease at offers lower than the reserve price. The government is now exploring other options to revive the loss-making firm, a senior agriculture ministry official told PTI.

In 2015, the Union Cabinet had permitted corporatisation of DMS, and bids were invited for leasing it out. DMS has milk production and packaging capacity of 5 lakh litres per day, besides a network of 1,298 outlets in the NCR-region.

The government received only two offers- the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that operates the Amul brand, and the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producer's Federation (KMF) that markets under the brand name Nandini. The official did not reveal the bid values but said that the offers did not fructify as these were "much less than the reserve price" and "not even negotiable."

The official further said that other options need to be worked out to the revive DMS.

The DMS was started in 1959 to supply wholesome milk to Delhi citizens at reasonable prices, while providing remunerative prices to milk producers. It has been procuring raw milk from Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar.

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