A laddu mirroring the changing fortunes of Balapur

When Kolanu Mohan Reddy, a farmer from Balapur village on the outskirts of Hyderabad, paid ₹450 for the laddu kept near the Ganesh idol in the village, he never imagined he was starting a trend. With ₹450, he could have purchased about a gram of gold, which was trading at ₹4,598 per 10 grams in 1994. Instead, he bought the prasadam, distributed it among his friends and went to his farmland, where he sprinkled a part of it for good luck. And just like that, the family continued the tradition of bidding for and purchasing the laddu on the last day before the idol was taken in procession to Hussainsagar lake.

In 2002, the bid crossed the ₹1-lakh mark when K. Madhava Reddy purchased the laddu for ₹1,05,000. Had he bought gold instead, he could have acquired about 210 grams. In today’s terms, that quantity would be worth about ₹27 lakh.

This year’s winner, who bid ₹39 lakh, could buy about 255 grams of gold at current prices. So, while the amount spent on the laddu appears to have skyrocketed, it has, in a sense, broadly kept pace with inflation as reflected in gold prices.

The Balapur laddu showed how faith and economy go hand in hand.

But the village presents a mixed picture. Even in 2026, Balapur is a mix of rustic village atmosphere and the opulence of nouveau riche. The streets are lined with colonies where some are single-storied homes, with colourful wooden doors, evoke another era, others exude modernity and exclusivity. The newer houses are multi-storied structures with high walls, elaborate gates and generous touches of glass and chrome on their upper floors.

It is a miracle when the 102M Telangana State Road Transport Corporation bus enters the village and navigates through the streets as it plies between Balapur and Koti Women’s College. 

Some of the bidders for the laddu over the past decade are farmers who have turned to real estate. According to multiple realty websites, residential plots in Balapur now cost between ₹35 lakh and ₹4 crore, depending on their location and size, with ₹4,000 per square foot serving as a base price.

In 2013, Teegala Krishna Reddy won the bid for the laddu with ₹9.26 lakh. Mr. Reddy contested the 2014 Assembly election on a Telugu Desam Party ticket and won the Maheshwaram constituency before switching to the Telangana Rashtra Samithi. He is also the owner of Teegala Krishna Reddy Engineering College, located in the same locality. Did winning the laddu have anything to do with his subsequent political success?

A satellite map shows the changes in land use and settlement patterns as Maheshwaram has emerged as a magnet for hi-tech ancillary industries, with specialised manufacturing clusters for electronics, pharmaceuticals and aviation. The once-bucolic landscape of farms, buffaloes and simple homes is now dotted with densely packed houses and newer residential areas. Even the graveyard near Roushad-ud-Dowla Idgah and Masjid is surrounded by new houses.

It is this transformative wealth that has sent the price of the Balapur laddu soaring, turning the 21-kg sweet into a prized symbol of prosperity.

“In the earlier years, only the neighbourhood farmers would bid and distribute the laddu among villagers, family and friends while sprinkling the leftovers in the paddy fields for good luck. Now, the trend has changed, with the bidders being businessmen,” says Sudhakar Reddy, who runs a decoration firm in the village.

Not surprisingly, this year’s winner, Sama Praneeth Reddy, who plonked down ₹39 lakh for the laddu, identifies himself as a real-estate entrepreneur with a stake in the entertainment industry.