Tirupati ladoos: GPS, electronic locking systems to ensure unadulterated ghee supply to temple

Amid a massive controversy over the alleged presence of animal fat in the ghee used for making Tirupati ‘laddoos’, Karnataka Milk Federation’s Nandini ghee has stepped up security measures for the ghee being supplied to Tirupati temple, reports said.

They, citing sources from the Karnataka Milk Federation, said that the company plan to install GPS and electric locking systems in the ghee tankers to ensure that the ghee is not tampered with.

Soon after the row broke out over the adulterated ghee, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board resumed sourcing Karnataka Milk Federation’s Nandini ghee for the ‘laddoos’.

On Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu said that the ghee used for preparing the temple ‘prasad’ was made using animal fat.

The supply of Nandini ghee, a household name in Karnataka, to TTD was stopped last year by the then Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government over pricing issues.

Nandini ghee was being used at the temple for almost 15 years when the government of the day stopped it buying from the company.

“There is no scope for adulteration or usage of substandard materials in Nandini products. We couldn’t win the bid for supplying ghee for the Tirupati laddoos last year as we didn’t want to supply our products at cheap prices,” media reports quoted the company as saying.

According to reports, the Bengaluru-headquartered company has supplied over 4,000 metric tonnes of ghee to the Tirupati temple since 2013.

Interestingly, amid the row, the Karnataka government has also directed the temples in the state to use only Nandini ghee.