CBI uncovers 68 lakh kg, Rs 250-crore fake ghee scam at Tirupati Temple Trust

A major food adulteration scam has surfaced involving Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), one of the country’s most revered temple trusts. According to a Times of India report, a Uttarakhand-based dairy allegedly supplied 68 lakh kg of ghee worth Rs 250 crore to TTD between 2014 and 2019 without procuring any milk or butter during the period. A CBI probe has revealed that the ghee used to prepare the temple’s iconic laddu prasadam was adulterated.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) uncovered the details following the arrest of Ajay Kumar Sugandh, who allegedly supplied chemicals such as monodiglycerides and acetic acid ester to Bhole Baba Organic Dairy — the supplier contracted by TTD for ghee used in laddu preparation.

Bhole Baba Organic Dairy, operated by promoters Pomil Jain and Vipin Jain in Bhagwanpur, Uttarakhand, reportedly set up a fake ghee manufacturing unit and forged records of milk procurement and payments, according to CBI findings.

Although the dairy was blacklisted in 2022, it allegedly continued supplying adulterated ghee to TTD by routing contracts through other dairies, including Tirupati-based Vyshnavi Dairy, UP-based Mal Ganga, and Tamil Nadu-based AR Dairy Foods.

The CBI further found that four containers of adulterated ghee mixed with animal fat, rejected by TTD in July last year, were re-supplied to the temple trust through Vyshnavi Dairy.

Additionally, an inspection by FSSAI officials and the SIT at AR Dairy’s Dindigul plant revealed that four ghee tankers never returned to the facility. Instead, they were reportedly diverted to a local stone-crushing unit near the Vyshnavi Dairy plant.