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TTD Orders ACB Probe, Cancels Tenders After CSB Tests Find Polyester in ‘Silk’ Dupattas

CSB lab results, along with a textiles ministry review, backed vigilance findings that a single vendor passed off polyester as mulberry silk for years.

Overview

  • The TTD trust board referred the case to the Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau and scrapped current contracts following its vigilance report.
  • Central Silk Board laboratories in Bengaluru and Dharmavaram identified the fabric as polyester rather than pure mulberry silk, with required Silk Mark holograms missing in samples.
  • Procurement records show Nagari-based VRS Export and its affiliates supplied about ₹54.95 crore of cloth between 2015 and 2025, with a recent 15,000-piece order priced around ₹1,389 each.
  • Vigilance officials flagged a discrepancy with earlier approvals from a CSB lab in Kancheepuram, raising the possibility of sample substitution or manipulation during testing.
  • Officials cited prices well above market rates, and the Union textiles ministry submitted an independent report corroborating irregularities as the ACB prepares to verify transactions and lab findings.