Cheap polyester shawls passed off as silk at Tirupati in a ₹55 cr scam

Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati temple has found itself at the centre of another controversy, this time over silk shawls. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the renowned shrine, is involved in a ₹50-crore silk shawl scam between 2015 and 2025.

 

According to media reports, a high polyester content was found in the shawls that were supposed to be made of pure silk. TTD has procured over 21,600 silk shawls since 2015, valued at approximately ₹55 crore.

 

In an X post on Wednesday, TTD Board Chairman B R Naidu said, "Irregularities in the purchase of shawls by the previous governing council – the truth is out. The current governing council has launched a comprehensive investigation into the huge scam in which a silk shawl worth ₹350 was supplied to TTD for ₹1,350."

 

What was the scam about?

Naidu further noted that when examining the purchase of shawls worth ₹20 crore annually, it is estimated that around ₹80-90 crore may have been involved in corruption since 2019. "It came to light that shawls that should have been made of pure Tussa silk, gold/silver lace, and silk mark certification were supplied with inferior material," he said.

 

The shawl is supposed to be made from high-quality silk. It must use strong, twisted silk threads and meet a minimum thickness. The cloth must have a tight weave, with 100 threads per inch going one way and 80 threads per inch going the other way.

 

Each shawl should be 1 metre wide and 2.3 metres long. It must have a double-sided border that is 2.5 inches wide. The centre should display 'Om Namo Venkatesaya' in Telugu and Sanskrit, along with symbols of the Shanku, Chakra, and Namam.

 

The shawl must weigh 180 grams. Out of this, at least 110 grams should be pure, degummed, dyed silk, and the rest should come from zari and the border material.

TTD Board chairman slams previous govt

Slamming the previous government for its corrupt practices, Naidu said that the board discussed this and ordered an inquiry. "We will take strict action as soon as the report comes. The process has already started against the responsible officials. Many corruption cases, like adulterated ghee, inferior goods, theft of Parakamani, and exchange of tenders, were exposed during the previous government," he said in the post, which was roughly translated into English.

 

"We are moving forward to expose all these step by step and take legal action against those responsible. Transparency is our priority in TTD. We will not leave corruption to anyone," he added.

Tirupati laddu scam

TTD has also been embroiled in a laddu scam. It was recently revealed that an Uttarakhand-based dairy firm allegedly supplied fake ghee worth ₹250 crore to TTD between 2019 and 2024.

 

In September 2024, a major controversy broke out over the Tirupati Laddu after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that the previous government had allowed adulterated ingredients to be used. According to media reports, he said the laddus may have contained beef tallow, fish oil, and pig lard.