Amaravati | The Central Bureau of Investigation has urged the Andhra Pradesh government to initiate appropriate action against senior officials of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, including former office holders, over alleged lapses in tender conditions that reportedly led to the supply of adulterated ghee used in preparing the Tirupati laddu.
According to a letter submitted by the CBI-led Special Investigation Team, senior TTD officials allegedly approved diluted tender norms without due diligence, weakening quality safeguards and compromising the standards of ghee procured by the temple body. The SIT described the lapses as deliberate omissions and failures in both the relaxation and enforcement of procurement conditions.
Finance Minister P Keshav said the Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, has decided to treat all officials named in the SIT communication as guilty in the alleged ghee adulteration case. He stated that the actions of the officials directly resulted in a decline in procurement standards.
The SIT named O Balaji, Finance Adviser and Chief Accounts Officer, A V Dharma Reddy, former additional executive officer, and Anil Kumar Singhal, former executive officer, accusing them of approving tender conditions without proper application of mind. Y V Subba Reddy and several purchase committee members were also named in the report.
According to the investigation, diluted tender conditions allowed inefficient private dairies, including Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk Private Limited, Vyshnavi Dairy Specialities Private Limited and Malganga Milk and Agro Products Private Limited, to qualify for TTD tenders. These firms allegedly supplied adulterated ghee to the temple between 2020 and 2023.
Keshav said the SIT submitted an 11-page report to the state government, detailing how quality requirements were weakened, including lowering the minimum turnover eligibility for dairies from Rs 250 crore to Rs 150 crore and excluding experience in milk procurement as a qualifying criterion.
Although ghee procurement norms were strengthened in August 2019, the finance minister alleged that within five months, senior TTD officials proposed contradictory recommendations to relax those conditions and placed them before the purchase committee. The committee approved the relaxed norms in a meeting held on February 18, 2020, and the TTD board subsequently cleared them on February 29, 2020.
The Andhra Pradesh government claimed that the alleged adulteration occurred with the knowledge of TTD officials and committee members. Keshav alleged that Vyshnavi Dairy had not engaged in dairy operations for at least a year and had submitted forged documents to secure tenders.
He further accused the previous Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party government of suppressing a 2022 report by the Central Food Technological Research Institute, which reportedly detected beta-sitosterol in the ghee, indicating adulteration.
The Cabinet has now decided to constitute a short-term committee to examine whether additional administrative lapses occurred within the temple administration. Keshav said all concerned individuals would be given an opportunity to present their case before any further action is taken.
The state government is also seeking the opinion of the Advocate General on the matter. Responding to questions about claims that animal fats were used in the adulterated ghee during the previous government’s tenure, Keshav said the allegation was based on findings from the NDDB CALF report.
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