Amid a bitter war of words between the Karnataka Milk Federation and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam over the iconic Tirupati laddoos, the dairy cooperative has said it is more than capable of supplying the entire quantity of ghee required by the temple trust to make ‘prasadam’ for its followers.
“We would like to clarify that we did not say that the TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam) has been procuring low-quality ghee. We only said the price that the players who participate in the tender to supply ghee is lower than the price that we are able to offer,” said MK Jagdish, managing director of the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which is caught in a controversy over the supply of its Nandini ghee to make these laddoos.
This was in response to a statement by Dharma Reddy, the executive officer of the TTD, that the KMF has not consistently supplied ghee to it for the last 20 years and the state’s cooperative has been unable to match the quantity required to make the laddoos. Officials of the trust are now seething as the controversy has snowballed over the past few days.
An official from the KMF said they produce 2,500 MT of ghee every month and their annual production is 3,000 MT while the TTD’s requirement is 5,000 MT annually.
“We want to bring clarity that the KMF has the capacity to supply the entire quantity of 2,000 MT as required by the TTD. The rate at which they expect the supply is the only constraint. That’s no problem for us and we are ready to give it,” Jagdish told News18 in an exclusive interview.
The KMF has made it clear that in the last 10 years, they have not supplied ghee on a biannual basis and there was a break between 2016 and 2018 as well as in 2020-2021; the rest of the years, the cooperative has supplied the amount needed.
“It is true that we have not continually supplied to TTD. There have been years when we have not supplied ghee. In the years where we are not the lowest bidder of the tender, we have supplied the quantity at an agreed rate,” KMF’s managing director said.
News18 analysed the data over the past decade on the requirement and quantity supplied by KMF to TTD, and here is what we found:
- In 2022-2023, the KMF took part in the tender process and was the third lowest bidder in terms of pricing. Officials said they would supply the amount of ghee that TTD wanted after the bidding process was over
- In 2021-22, the total quantity required by TTD was 2,020 MT and KMF supplied 345 MT at the rate of Rs 392 per kg
- In 2020-21, the KMF did not supply ghee to TTD
- In 2019-2020, the TTD wanted 1,150 MT of ghee and the KMF provided more than the required quantity at 1,408 MT at the rate of Rs 368 per kg. That year, the federation had won the tender as the lowest bidder
- In 2018-2019, the TTD needed 2,071 MT to make laddoos and KMF provided 85 MT at the rate of Rs 324 per kg; but between 2016 and 2018, the KMF did not send any ghee to the temple board
- In 2015-2016, the KMF supplied 709 MT against the requirement of 1,500 MT. This consignment was sold at Rs 306 per kg
- In 2014-2015, the KMF provided 200 MT against TTD’s requirement of 1,000 MT. However, in 2013-2014, the KMF almost matched the TTD’s requirement of 1,000 to 2,000 MT, having provided 1,858 MT at the rate of Rs 264 per kg.
Reddy, while speaking to the media, said the supply contract will not be granted through a nomination basis. He spelled out that the selection of the ghee supplier to TTD is determined through a rigorous e-tendering process and the product is tested in a state-of-the-art laboratory before being used to prepare the laddoos. There is a no-compromise policy when it comes to the taste, colour, and quality of the famous laddoos, he added.
The TTD calls for ghee tenders every six months, procuring at least 1,400 tonnes of ghee biannually to produce the renowned Tirupati laddoo ‘prasadam’. The Tirupati Balaji temple, dedicated to Hindu deity Venkateswara, is known to be the richest in the world and reportedly witnesses a footfall of 50,000 to 1,00,000 visitors each day.
In an interview to News18 on Tuesday (August 1), KMF chairman Bheema Naik expressed disappointment that the TTD had opted for a different company offering a more cost-effective pricing. Naik also praised Nandini ghee’s superior quality and the KMF does not plan to reduce its pricing to match tender requirements. On August 1, the KMF increased the price of milk by Rs 3 in order to match the rates of dairy cooperatives across India.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah said the state’s milk prices were the lowest in the country as compared to Maharashtra and Delhi, which price this essential commodity between Rs 45 and Rs 56.
This is not the first time Nandini has been in the headlines. Ahead of the Karnataka assembly elections, there was a tug of war between Gujarat’s Amul and KMF’s Nandini as the former began marketing its products in Karnataka.
The Congress, which was in opposition then, raised concerns about a “potential merger of Nandini with Amul”. This claim, however, was vehemently denied by the BJP government.
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