MUMBAI: Siddhivinayak temple Prabhadevi is inviting buyers to purchase an enormous quantity of 16,000 litres of spoilt ghee.
It was procured in March 2020, just a few days before the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed March 25.
The state’s law and judiciary department which controls the shrine trust, has granted approval to the move.
On average 12,000 litres of ghee is used each month to prepare the temple’s prasad laddoos that are a favourite with devotees who visit the shrine.
In the wake of the pandemic, temples were closed for darshan.
As a result, the raw material became stale and passed its expiry date.
Siddhivinayak’s senior officer Nanda Raut said, “We will clarify to prospective buyers that the ghee is unfit for human consumption.
It can still be used as raw material by soap and cosmetics manufacturers, and other industries that extract components of ghee for multiple uses.
In fact, even shrines that prefer ghee to light diyas before their idols are likely to show interest.” The bulk quantity of 16,000 litres ghee was purchased for Rs 50 lakh last year, which works out to Rs 312 per kilo, from a vendor in Bareilly, UP.
The retail market price of the item in Mumbai is Rs 400-500 per kilo.
With this auction the temple hopes to recover 60-70% of its investment gone bad.