The alleged use of substandard ingredients and animal fat in Tirupati laddu, the sacred offering at Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, has triggered a political slugfest with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu pinning the blame on the previous YSRCP government.
Though the lab report suggested that the ghee contained beef tallow and pork lard did not mention any manufacturing companies, the controversy has shed light on why the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which had been supplying Nandini ghee to the temple, stopped doing so in 2023.
Last July, KMF president Bhima Nayak said the company stopped the supply of ghee to the temple after the price hike of Nandini milk products. The KMF demanded a higher price to continue supplying ghee, but Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) did not agree to their terms. This contract was annulled on August 1, 2023.
Nayak added that the TTD has found a new company which provides them ghee to make Tirupati laddus at a lower price but did not mention which company that was.
TTD executive officer Shamala Rao, who assumed charge in June, said he noted that the rates quoted by tenderers are unviable. "They were so low that anyone can say that pure cow ghee cannot cost so less. We warned all suppliers, that they will be blacklisted if the ghee supplied doesn't pass the lab test," he said.
Rao added that CM Naidu expressed concern over the quality of the laddoo and wanted steps to ensure that the sanctity of the temple is restored, including getting pure cow milk ghee.
"We have started working on that. We don't have any internal lab to test adulteration in the ghee. There is no system to check the quality of ghee in outside labs too. We collected all samples and sent it to the best lab, it is government-controlled, and the reports have come and are shocking," he said.
However, officials of the A R Diary, which had been supplying ghee, told reporters that they have been consistently supplying ghee to the temple from June to July. With over 25 years of experience in ghee production, we have never received any complaints or quality issues to date," the officials said, adding that they do not supply the ghee at present.