Apparently faced with a severe liquidity crunch due to a sharp fall in cash offerings by devotees to the Lord Venkateshwara temple on Tirumala, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams on Friday decided to convert its cash deposits worth over Rs 12,000 crore in various banks into monthly mode.
A decision to this effect was taken at the TTD trust board meeting held in Tirumala in the morning. Hitherto, the TTD had been making cash deposits in the banks quarterly, half-yearly and yearly and getting interest only at the end of the maturity of deposits.
“Now, we have decided to convert all these deposits into monthly mode with immediate effect. As the deposits are renewed every month, we can get monthly interest which can be used for paying salaries, bearing the overhead expenses and conducting regular rituals for the Lord,” TTD trust board chairman Y V Subba Reddy told reporters after the board meeting.
As per the last year’s estimates, TTD has cash deposits in the banks to the extent of more than Rs 12,000 crore. In the 2020-21 annual budget for the TTD, adopted in February this year, the board projected an income of Rs 706 crore in the form of interest on deposits for the entire year.
Interest on deposits is the second highest source of income after the Hundi (cash chest adjacent to the temple where devotees make offering) collections, which are projected at around Rs 1,313 crore in the TTD’s annual budget, which has a total outlay of Rs 3,309 crore.
The decision to shift to the monthly mode of deposits was taken apparently in view of serious cash crunch because of the sharp fall in the income from pilgrim offerings on the account of Covid-19 pandemic and the prolonged lockdown that forced the temple to remain shut for 80 days. Even after the lockdown was lifted, the footfall of pilgrims has come down drastically.
The TTD trust board also decided that the Lord’s gold deposits should be converted to long-term deposits from the current short-term, so as to get more interest. Presently, the gold deposits are yielding 2.5 percent income. Longer durations ranging up to 12 years will fetch a greater rate of interest.
TTD deposits surplus gold– donated by devotees but never used for decoration of the Lord– in nationalised banks as per an order from the state government in 2,000. When the RBI brought in gold monetisation scheme in 2015, the TTD deposited 5,387 kgs of gold in State Bank of India, 1,938 kgs in Indian Overseas Bank and 1,381 kgs in PNB. The gold in PNB was withdrawn last year upon maturity and shifted to the SBI.
The board also decided that the Brahmotsavams in September would be held in Ekantam (without allowing devotees). Brahmotsavams are one of the biggest celebrations at Tirumala.
This is the first time that Brahmotsavams will be celebrated in a simple way for a formality because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The chairman said there would be another Brahmotsavams in October. If the situation improves, devotees may be allowed.
TTD board member Sudha Narayana Murthy offered Rs 1 crore as donation to the TTD for adopting the sophisticated technology for conversion of garbage on the Tirumala hill into compost. A consultant would be engaged for viable solutions, Reddy said.
