Did the adulteration of ghee used for Tirupati Laddus – the sweet offerings made at the famous Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh – begin after the YSRCP government in the state relaxed procurement norms in February 2020?The short answer: No.The Special Investigation Team (SIT), set up by the Andhra Pradesh state government in mid-2024 to probe irregularities in Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) procurement, recently submitted its supplementary charge sheet (No. 01/2025). The document concludes that the adulteration was a systemic and long-running fraud that began well before the 2020 policy changes.According to the investigation, supplies of compromised ghee – meant to be “Agmark Special Grade” cow ghee used in laddu production – began in February 2019 under the previous administration, and the scale and sophistication of the fraud expanded significantly between 2020 and 2024.The SIT describes a “cartel” of shell companies, complicit TTD officials and a bribery network, which enabled suppliers to pass off mixtures of vegetable oils and chemicals as pure ghee, deceiving laboratory tests and inspectors.Here is a detailed breakdown of the findings from the charge sheet, including when the fraud started, the companies involved and the mechanisms used to sustain it for over five years.The timeline: origin and expansionWhile the prevailing political narrative suggests that adulteration discovered at TTD was solely a consequence of policy changes made by the YSRCP government, the SIT’s forensic timeline offers a different conclusion.The charge sheet explicitly identifies February 18, 2019, as the genesis of the adulteration timeline. At the time, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led by chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu was in power in Andhra Pradesh.Also read: ‘Expect the Gods to be Kept Away from Politicians’: SC Raps Chandrababu Naidu Over Tirupati Laddu ControversyOn that date, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) floated a tender for 82,000 kilograms of ghee, the charge sheet says on page 65. This contract was secured by a private company named Harsh Fresh Dairy Products, which renamed itself to Bhole Baba Organic Dairy Milk in July 2021.The company won the bid to supply ghee at Rs 291 per kilogram, a price the investigation flags as unviable for genuine ghee. The SIT also states that Harsh Fresh, “instead of manufacturing Agmark Special Grade cow ghee … prepared the adulterated ghee … and supplied the said adulterated ghee to TTD.”While the fraud began earlier, the ecosystem for this fraud was significantly liberalised on February 29, 2020. Through Resolution No. 371, also detailed in the charge sheet, the TTD Board relaxed critical eligibility norms. For instance, removing it the mandatory requirement for dairies to procure 4 lakh litres of milk per day and reduced the turnover requirement from Rs 250 crore to Rs 150 crore.The SIT notes that this relaxation “paved the way for participation of dairies without procuring milk”. Consequently, between 2019 and 2024, a “syndicate” supplied 59.71 lakh kilograms of adulterated ghee, resulting in the misappropriation of Rs 234.51 crore.The suppliers: a network of shells and proxiesThe investigation reveals that the supply chain for ghee was dominated by entities that were effectively manufacturers of synthetic oil rather than functioning dairies.Bhole Baba Organic (formerly Harsh Fresh) is identified as the central player or “mastermind”. The charge sheet notes the company “did not procure cow milk at any point of time since its inception” – it existed solely to mix vegetable oils and chemicals.To bypass TTD bans or technical disqualifications, Bhole Baba routed its product through a proxy network of front companies. The charge sheet names several companies: Sri Vyshnavi Dairy Specialties, Malganga Milk and AR Dairy Food as entities that submitted false documents to win tenders while sourcing the adulterated stock from Bhole Baba behind the scenes.The role of another private limited company, Premier Agri Foods, is particularly significant as per the charge sheet. It served as a bridge between the two administrations in charge at the TTD over the timeline the SIT has probed.The charge sheet documents that the TTD Technical Team inspected Premier Agri’s plant in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh on three occasions: November 5, 2017 (during the TDP’s term), August 7, 2019 (shortly after the YSRCP government took office) and November 18, 2023 (also during the YSRCP term).Also read: Letters, Reports and Penance: How the Tirupati Laddu Lent Itself to PoliticsThis sequence confirms Premier Agri was already a long-standing contractor rather than a new entrant when the controversy errupted. Despite being a “current supplier” with a rate of Rs 329 per kilo – far lower than the Rs 467.86 per kilo competitors quoted in May 2022 – its position was maintained through a massive bribery operation, according to the charge sheet.The investigators found that the managing director, Jagmohan Gupta, paid Rs 50 lakh in cash to Kaduru Chinnappanna (accused No. 24 in the case), Personal Assistant to the TTD chairman at the time.Additionally, the firm allegedly paid Rs 7.5 lakh to a dairy expert, Maddi Vijayabhasker Reddy, another accused (No. 34) in the case, and gifted a “Kundan 8 Grams Gold Coin” to ensure favourable inspection reports, the charge sheet details.Most damningly, when TTD sent samples of Premier Agri ghee to the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) laboratory in Mysore in June 2022, the reports confirmed adulteration with vegetable oil. But instead of blacklisting the firm, officials – allegedly including R.S.S.V.R. Subrahmanyam (accused No. 29) – “deliberately suppressed” these reports, allowing the tainted supplies to continue until 2024, the charge sheet says.The ‘recipe’: chemistry, not tallowContrary to the inflammatory claims of “beef tallow” being the primary adulterant, the SIT’s forensic conclusion points to synthetic chemical adulteration designed to cheat lab tests.The accused purchased bulk quantities of refined palm oil, palm kernel oil and palmolein. To make these oils resemble ghee in aroma, colour and chemical parameters, beta-carotene was added to it to create a yellow hue, while ghee flavour was added for aroma, and chemicals including acetic acid ester, lactic acid and monoglycerides, the charge sheet claims.Therefore, while initial rapid tests flagged markers for “animal fat”, the final analysis by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) clarified the composition. The samples were “primarily a mixture of palm oil and/or palm stearin with palm kernel oil”. Indeed, the report notes that the presence of animal fat (here meaning tallow or lard, or fat directly obtained from animals rather than processed from milk) appeared “very less”.The economics: the price of fraudThe fraud as detailed in the charge sheet was visible in the ledger books long before it was caught in the laboratory. Consider a key point mentioned earlier – how the suppliers quoted prices that were impossible for ghee.Also read: Nara Lokesh Wades Into Tirupati Laddu Controversy AgainIn May 2024, the market price for Agmark Special Grade Cow Ghee ranged between Rs 570 and Rs 700 per kilo. Yet, AR Dairy Food quoted a supply price of just Rs 319.80 per kilo, the charge sheet says. TTD general manager, P. Murali Krishna (one of the accused), knew this price was unviable, says the document, yet he “deliberately suppressed the fact” and failed to alert those above him in the organisation, instead allowing the contract to proceed.Cash, coins, hawalaAccording to the investigation so far, the fraud at TTD went on for five years and was sustained by systemic bribery involving officials as well as external experts. For instance, suppliers utilised hawala channels to transfer Rs 19.86 crore to various stakeholders to facilitate their wrongdoings.Specific instances of bribery have been detailed: Samsung S-20 mobile phones worth Rs 50,000 each gifted to officials, silver and gold coins distributed to officials and experts, direct cash payments ranging from Rs 20,000 to as high as Rs 50 lakh.Crucially, once TTD had received, in August 2022, reports from CFTRI, Mysore confirming the presence of vegetable oil in ghee, Subrahmanyam and other officials suppressed that information instead of blacklisting suppliers.The trigger: rejections in 2024The entire investigation was precipitated by specific shipments in mid-2024. In June and July that year, TTD received tankers from AR Dairy. Samples drawn on July 6 and July 12 were sent to the NDDB CALF lab. Four tankers were rejected after they tested positive for “vegetable and animal fats”.ConclusionThe SIT investigation dismantles the single-party narrative that has overshadowed much of the public discussion on the laddu adulteration story. The YSRCP government was in power in 2020 when the milk procurement mandates were relaxed, allowing shell companies to enter the procurement process, but synthetic ghee was being supplied at least as early as in February 2019.