Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said the adulteration of ghee used for Tirumala temple offerings is the gravest scam in the temple's history.

The scandal highlights a systemic collapse in the procurement process of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). Because the temple's offerings are sacred to millions of devotees, the use of contaminated ingredients represents a significant breach of religious trust, and public health standards.

According to a one-man committee report and assembly discussions, the previous YSRCP regime oversaw a process where tender rules were diluted and laboratory reports were ignored. This environment allowed for the procurement of contaminated ghee from favored suppliers. Officials said that 70 lakh kilograms [1] of ghee were procured without following the necessary mandates.

These procurement failures had a direct impact on the temple's famous offerings. The investigation found that nearly 20 crore laddus [2] were prepared using the adulterated product. The scale of the operation suggests that the contamination was not an isolated incident but a result of institutional negligence.

"Ghee adulteration gravest scam in Tirumala’s history," Naidu said during remarks in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.

The issue was raised in the Legislative Council in Amaravati, where members discussed the irregularities in TTD contracts. The reports indicate that the procurement committee failed to act on warnings and lab results that would have normally disqualified the suppliers. The current administration is now reviewing the extent of the patronage that allowed these suppliers to bypass safety standards.

“"Ghee adulteration gravest scam in Tirumala’s history"”

This scandal underscores the vulnerability of high-volume religious procurement to political patronage and systemic corruption. By bypassing laboratory verification and tender rules, the TTD procurement process failed to protect the sanctity of the offerings, potentially exposing millions of pilgrims to contaminated food and creating a political flashpoint between the current administration and the previous YSRCP regime.