The one-man committee constituted by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu to probe lapses in the procurement of ghee used in preparing the famous laddu offerings at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple has alleged extensive administrative failures, procedural violations, and possible collusion that enabled the supply of adulterated ghee.
CM Naidu has alleged that during the previous YSRCP government’s term in the state between 2019 and 2024, adulterated ghee was used to make the laddu offerings (known as prasadam). The ghee is procured by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the Venkateswara temple.
The committee, comprising retired IAS officer Dinesh Kumar, was set up in February 2026 and tasked with identifying alleged tender norm relaxations, identifying those responsible for ghee adulteration and examining lapses in the procurement system.
In its report, the committee squarely fixes accountability on senior officials and the procurement machinery, holding them responsible for creating conditions that allowed contaminated ghee to enter the supply chain.
The report accused former executive officer A V Dharma Reddy of being the principal figure responsible for major lapses, including dilution of tender norms, failure to act on confirmed adulteration, and allowing continued engagement of questionable suppliers. He has previously said that all decisions were taken with the consent of all members of the procurement committee and that contracts were given as per the rules.
The procurement committee’s role has come under severe scrutiny, with former YSRCP MLAs Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy and Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, who is also the former TTD chairman, being accused, along with other members of the committee, of having participated in key decisions that diluted tender norms and weakened safeguards.
The YSRCP has maintained that the allegations are politically motivated. YSRCP general secretary G Srikanth Reddy said the allegations were part of a campaign against political adversaries of CM Naidu.
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“This has been done to cover up his failures and sling mud at the Opposition,” he said, adding that blatant lies about the Tirupati laddu were being spread. He was referring to allegations raised earlier that the ghee used to make the laddu prasadam had been adulterated with animal fat. A probe team’s analysis of samples detected adulteration, but not by the use of any animal fat.
The one-man committee report has further alleged that adulterated ghee was allowed into the system despite clear evidence of adulteration. As per the committee, a CFTRI laboratory report dated August 3, 2022, detected β-Sitosterol, a marker of vegetable oil adulteration, in all tested samples. Despite this, the report was not acted upon, suppliers were not blacklisted, and procurement continued unchecked, the committee alleged.
Procurement failures
The probe report claimed that the procurement framework itself incentivised adulteration. Excessive reliance on the lowest price (L1) led to acceptance of abnormally low bids, including drastic price drops that made the supply of pure ghee unviable, it said, adding that in multiple cases, post-auction price reductions were allowed through informal communication, directly violating tender norms. Mandatory food safety regulations were allegedly ignored. Even after β-Sitosterol testing became compulsory from July 1, 2022, the TTD, during the YSRCP term, failed to enforce it in its procurement process, the report alleged.
As a result, over 70 lakh kg of ghee was procured without mandatory testing, and large quantities were accepted without proper verification, the report said. The ghee consignments were accepted and used for preparing the laddu prasadam even before laboratory test results were received, the report claimed.
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The report also said there was an organised adulteration network, where a key supplier manufactured adulterated ghee using vegetable oils and additives and continued supply through intermediary dairies even after disqualification, pointing to a coordinated attempt to bypass safeguards.
The committee has recommended strict disciplinary action against all officials responsible, including those who approved the alleged dilution of tender norms and purportedly failed to act on confirmed adulteration.
It has called for the immediate blacklisting of all erring suppliers involved in the adulteration supply chain, along with the initiation of legal and penal action. A complete overhaul of the procurement system has been recommended, including the elimination of over-reliance on L1 bidding and the introduction of stronger quality-based evaluation mechanisms.
The committee has stressed the urgent need to establish a robust, real-time in-house testing infrastructure to detect adulteration before the acceptance of consignments. It has also recommended strict enforcement of food safety standards, removal of conflicts of interest in committee structures, and introduction of independent oversight mechanisms to ensure transparency and accountability. The report states that this was not merely a lapse but a systemic breakdown that enabled adulterated ghee to enter the system and be used in one of the most sacred institutions, severely impacting public trust and religious sentiments on a massive scale.
