Between 2019 and 2024, a dairy in Uttarakhand, Bhole Baba Organic Dairy and its associated units, supplied around 68 lakh kilograms of counterfeit ghee to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the temple
trust behind the famed Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh, according to the investigation by the CBI-led special investigation team (SIT). The estimated value of the supply is about ₹250 crore.
Investigations uncovered a sophisticated adulteration scheme in which the dairy unit never procured any real milk or butter during this period, yet managed to secure and fulfil supply contracts for ghee.
The fake ghee was reportedly produced using palm oil, palm kernel oil, hydrogenated fats, and additives like beta-carotene and “ghee essence” to mimic the colour and aroma of genuine ghee.
To bypass quality tests used by TTD, including the Reichert-Miessl (RM) value test, which measures genuine ghee fat content, the dairy allegedly used acetic-acid esters and other chemical tricks to artificially boost the RM value of the synthetic product.
Although Bhole Baba was blacklisted by TTD in 2022, the supply allegedly continued through proxies. Other dairies, such as Vyshnavi Dairy (Andhra Pradesh), Mal Ganga Dairy (Uttar Pradesh), and AR Dairy Foods (Tamil Nadu), were used to relabel and route the spurious ghee. The documents, invoices, and e-way bills were apparently falsified to conceal the origin of the product.
