Andhra Pradesh: Tirupati temple trust declares huge gold, cash deposits
What's the story
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) officially released a white paper on Saturday, revealing the list of its assets, including fixed and gold deposits. The TTD announced that since 2019, the trust board has propped its investment guidelines. The trust played down reports claiming that the TTD board and the chairman had chosen to invest their extra funds in the Securities of the Andhra government.
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TTD's cash and gold deposits
According to NDTV, the TTD trust stated the surplus amounts are invested in scheduled banks. In a release in Telugu, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) said: "Devotees of Srivari are requested not to believe such conspiratorial false propaganda. Cash and gold deposits made by TTD in various banks are done in a very transparent manner."
Information
TTD executive officer gives insight
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams executive officer AV Dharma Reddy told The Times of India that the total value of the temple trust had increased roughly to Rs. 2.26 lakh crore. It also has approximately 10.3 tonnes of gold deposits in different banks, roughly valued at Rs. 5,300 crore and cash deposits of around Rs. 15,938 crore.
Value
Gold deposits and net worth
As per Times of India, TTD pegged the total value of assets at Rs 2.26 lakh crore. According to the shared bank-wise investment, TTD had 7339.74 tons of gold deposits in 2019, and 2.9-ton more were added in the past three years. In a status note, the TTD stated that as per rules, it has invested in Scheduled Banks at H1 rate of interest.
Donations
Where's the money coming from?
The money made by the temple entirely comes from donations from the devotees, institutions and businesses, as per reports. As per reports, the temple also has assets that include 960 properties across India spread over 7,123 acres. Reddy confirmed donations received are deposited in nationalized banks, the government of India securities, or the government of Andhra Pradesh securities.