Andhra Pradesh Food Safety Department and Investigators found that a dairy company from Uttarakhand sent over 68 lakh kg adulterated ghee, worth around ₹250 crore, to the TTD between 2019 and 2024. Preliminary findings indicate that the company, Bhole Baba Dairy, owned by Pammil Jain and Vipin Jain, had set up a fake ghee production unit. They used counterfeit documents to fake milk and butter procurement that didn’t actually happen.
Officials claim the firm produced fake ghee using chemicals like monoglycerides and acetic acid esters, which are commonly used in food adulteration.
Bhole Baba Dairy Supplied 68 Lakh Kg Adulterated Ghee to temple
In 2022, TTD blacklisted Bhole Baba Dairy after receiving several complaints about product quality. However, investigations show the same group later started new companies, including Vaishnavi Dairy (Tirupati), Mal Ganga Dairy (Uttar Pradesh), and AR Dairy Foods (Tamil Nadu), to keep supplying ghee and butter to the temple under different names.
Laboratory tests and forensic analyses have revealed troubling details. Reports from both the CBI and FSSAI confirmed that animal fat present in the ghee sent to TTD. In July 2024, temple authorities rejected four tankers of ghee from AR Dairy after they found irregularities.
Adulterated Ghee Scam: ₹50 Lakh Hawala Link Surfaces to YSR Congress MP
The investigation has also uncovered a hawala connection involving the alleged transfer of ₹50 lakh to K. Chinnappanna, a personal assistant to YSR Congress MP and former TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy. Officials say payments made through two transactions in Delhi: ₹20 lakh from agent Aman Gupta and the rest from Vijay Gupta, an executive of Premier Agri Foods.
This revelation led political controversy in Andhra Pradesh. Former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu claimed the Bhole Baba Dairy’s adulterated ghee containing animal fat used to make sacred laddus during the previous YSR Congress government’s time in office.
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