Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday told the State Assembly that nearly 20 crore Tirumala laddoos were allegedly prepared using fake ghee over a five-year period, citing findings
of a CBI-led Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the controversial supply of ingredients for the sacred prasadam.
Participating in a short discussion on the alleged sacrilege of the laddu prasadam of Lord Venkateswara, Kalyan said the SIT had conclusively found that no milk was used in the manufacture of ghee supplied for laddu preparation.
Instead, the ghee was allegedly produced using palm oil blended with chemicals.
He added that while the investigation pointed to adulteration, the SIT currently lacks the technological capability to scientifically establish the precise chemical composition and origin of the substances used.
According to the Deputy CM, the SIT has identified 36 accused persons and concluded that the adulteration was the result of a planned conspiracy aimed at defiling the sacred prasadam.
He alleged that tender conditions for ghee supply were deliberately diluted to favour select companies, indicating a premeditated effort to manipulate the procurement process.
Kalyan told the House that several eligibility norms were relaxed during the tendering process.
These included reducing the minimum annual turnover requirement for suppliers from ₹250 crore to ₹150 crore, removing the condition mandating daily procurement of four lakh litres of milk, cutting down the required dairy industry experience from three years to one year, and lowering the production requirement from 12 tonnes of butter or ghee per day to eight tonnes.
He alleged that these changes were specifically designed to ensure that contracts were awarded to preferred entities.
Following the revised tender conditions, the selected companies supplied ghee between 2020 and 2023 despite allegedly lacking the minimum qualifications, as noted in the SIT charge sheet.
The investigation reportedly found that firms such as Bhole Baba and its associated entities Mahalakshmi Ganga and Vaishnavi Dairy did not produce even a single litre of ghee from milk.
Highlighting the scale of the alleged malpractice, the Deputy CM said that between 2019 and 2024, around 1.1 billion devotees visited Tirumala and approximately 480 million laddu prasadam units were sold.
Of these, nearly 200 million laddoos were allegedly made using fake ghee, based on records of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams cited during the Assembly proceedings.
Kalyan reiterated that the investigation had established a conspiracy angle in the case and stressed the need for accountability to protect the sanctity of one of the country’s most revered religious offerings.
