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TIRUPATI, INDIA, April 25, 2005: In a move that is sure to create a furore in the all-strong procurement cartel supplying commodities worth millions of rupees to the Tirupati Temple on a daily basis, the shrine trust has decided to shift to full time e-procurement and do away with the cartel altogether. The Temple is the largest purchaser of commodities like sugar, cardamom and cashew in the country. Its e-procurement plans hinge on a state-of-the-art on-line commodity trading terminal which has been installed in the temple complex for the purpose of online and direct price monitoring. A highly placed source in the Tirupati Thirumala Devasthanam told The Pioneer on phone from Tirupati that the e-procurement move would be a big step in efficiency and cost as it would eliminate the big cartel of middlemen which currently supply commodities to the temple worth US$68 million, and on a big cut. “Besides introducing transparency into the transaction and giving all bidders an equal playing field, the move will also ensure the quality of the procured product with specific liability on the warehouse concerned, which was not the case till now,” the source said. The move is expected to ruffle the 30-plus contractors who have a stronghold on the million-rupee TTD procurements which include a host of materials needed for the daily prasadam. As many as 2,000 liters of ghee is bought by the Temple daily and almost 200 kg high grade cashew is used up for puja and the laddoos. “Through a newly installed commodities terminal at the Temple, the TTD procurement department can now view the prices from NMCE, NCDEX & MCX exchanges and it has become easy for them to directly monitor the market price fluctuations of cardamom, cashew, turmeric and jaggery,” Giby Mathew, managing director of Kochi-based JRG Wealth Management, the company which installed the terminal, said.

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