In a shocking revelation, a massive fake ghee scam has come to light involving the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) — the trust managing the world-famous Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh. According to a CBI investigation, a Uttarakhand-based dairy supplied nearly 68 lakh kilograms (6.8 million kg) of adulterated ghee worth over Rs 250 crore to the temple over a period of five years.
The dairy in question — Bhole Baba Organic Dairy, located in Bhagwanpur, Haridwar — allegedly never purchased milk or butter, yet managed to supply huge quantities of “pure desi ghee” to the temple trust from 2019 to 2024. The ghee was used in preparing Tirupati’s sacred laddus, which are bought by millions of devotees as prasadam every year.
The CBI’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) found that promoters Pamil Jain and Vipin Jain set up a fake production unit and falsified documents related to milk and butter procurement. They allegedly manipulated payment records to make it appear that the ghee was being produced through legitimate dairy operations.
During interrogation, one of the accused, Ajay Kumar Sugandh, told investigators that he supplied industrial chemicals like monodiglycerides and acetic acid esters to the dairy. These substances are often used to artificially enhance texture and consistency, and are not fit for religious food preparations.
According to reports by The Times of India, TTD blacklisted Bhole Baba Dairy in 2022 after repeated complaints about corruption and adulteration. However, the accused continued supplying fake ghee under different company names, including Vaishnavi Dairy (Tirupati), Maa Ganga Dairy (Uttar Pradesh), and AR Dairy Foods (Tamil Nadu).
CBI’s remand report further revealed that some batches of ghee were found to contain animal fat, a serious violation of religious purity standards. In July 2024, TTD reportedly rejected four tankers of adulterated ghee supplied by AR Dairy, but those tankers never returned to the plant. Subsequent FSSAI and SIT investigations discovered that they were instead diverted to Vaishnavi Dairy for repackaging and redistribution.
The scandal has raised major questions about TTD’s procurement and quality control systems, as well as the oversight failures that allowed such large-scale religious food adulteration to continue unchecked for years.
