KMF has started supplying Nandini ghee to Tirupati from 15 days

The Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF), which had supplied 3,000 tonnes of Nandini ghee to make Tirupati laddus between 2013 and 2018 and 1,700 tonnes in 2019, had failed to win the bid for supply in recent years. However, it has started supplying the ghee again for the last 15 days.

“We started supply of ghee for Tirupati laddus again in the past 15 days. The federation has received an order to supply 350 tonnes of ghee over the next three months. They have also intimated us that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is interested in buying Nandini ghee again after the current supply contract ends,” KMF chairman Bhima Naik told The Hindu. “We are proud that our Nandini ghee is associated with Tirupati laddu.”

Between 2020 and 2024, the KMF failed to win the competitive bids floated by the temple authorities for the supply of ghee. “We were participating in the tender and it has been highly competitive. Being a farmers’ organisation, the KMF cannot go down a certain rate and suffer losses,” he explained.

Allaying fears of Nandini ghee shortage, he said, “We have enough ghee stock and we are ready to supply as much ghee as is required to Tirupati. The KMF is already supplying a good quantum of ghee to big temples at Kukke Subramanya, Dharmasthala, Kollur, and Kateel, among others.” Thanking the government for promoting Nandini ghee, Mr. Naik said they hoped the Government Order to temples to purchase Nandini ghee would benefit the KMF.

Former president of Bengaluru Milk Union Ltd. Narasimha Murthy said though the supply of ghee to Tirupati is not very lucrative, the KMF tries to be part of the tender process since the federation believes that it is prestigious for the Nandini brand to associate with the laddus of Tirupati. “Once the KMF lost the supply contract because our price was higher by about ₹15 a kg. In an earlier tender, the difference between the lowest bidder and the KMF was just ₹5 and the KMF even offered to further discount the cost by ₹3 a kg but that had not been agreed upon.” He said that the Nandini ghee would stand any quality test “anytime and anywhere”.

Published - September 20, 2024 10:25 pm IST