Probe Committee Finds Lapses In Ghee Procurement For Tirupati Laddu

A government-appointed one-man committee has found serious lapses in the way Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams procured ghee, blaming administrative failures and weak enforcement of rules for the supply of adulterated ghee used to prepare the Laddu Prasadam.

The inquiry, headed by retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar, was constituted in February this year following complaints and laboratory findings indicating the presence of non-dairy substances in ghee used to prepare the temple prasadam.

The committee examined tender processes, supplier selection, and quality checks to understand how such lapses occurred.

According to the report, the problem was not just a failure to detect adulteration but a result of how procurement rules were framed and implemented. It said the procurement committee played a central role by creating conditions that allowed irregularities to go unchecked.

The report finds that key decisions to relax tender norms were taken without the full committee being present. Members, including YSRCP leader Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, YSRCP leader and former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, M Ramulu, and Chief Accounts Officer O Balaji, were involved in these decisions.

The absence of the procurement general manager, who is the convener, further weakened the due process, the committee said.

Investigators also found that rules were not strictly enforced. In some cases, bidders were allowed to reduce prices even after reverse auctions, which goes against standard procedures.

It also said that abnormally low bids were accepted without adequate scrutiny, raising concerns about how suppliers could meet quality standards at such rates. Earlier lab reports had already confirmed adulteration in certain samples, but action was delayed.

The commission confirmed that such gaps in oversight, combined with relaxed norms, directly contributed to the procurement and use of adulterated ghee.

The report is likely to attract firm action from the Chandrababu Naidu government, which has already blamed the previous YS Jaganmohan Reddy government for TTD ghee adulteration. 

Committee Background

The Naidu government constituted the one-man committee after a chargesheet was filed on January 23 by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT, which was appointed under the supervision of the Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as per directions of the Supreme Court, also submitted a Self-Contained Note recommending suitable action against certain committee members and senior officers of TTD.

Retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar (RR-1983) was tasked to head the one-man committee to examine administrative lapses, assess procedural compliance in tender relaxations and enforcement, and identify the extent of responsibility of officials involved.

The committee was granted 45 days to submit its report. The findings will be recommendatory in nature and reviewed by the government for further action.