As Tirupati temple struggles to pay staff, 50 immovable properties to be auctioned

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To revive its plummeting financial condition, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to auction 50 immovable properties in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand. The Chairman of TTD Board, YV Subba Reddy said that the properties that are to be auctioned include tiny houses and house plots measuring between 1 cent and 5 cents and farming lands between 10 cents and below one acre. All the properties which are to be put on auction are unviable, not useful, and prone to encroachment. 

The world's richest temple trust has come out with a way to fulfill all its necessary expenses and salary crunch without touching 8 tonne gold of gold reserve and 14,000 crores fixed deposit. Reddy said that in Andhra Pradesh, there 26 such properties whereas 23 properties are in Tamil Nadu and one land in Rishikesh. The auction is expected to fetch about Rs 24 crore for the trust, he added.

The temple that attracts 80,000 to 100,000 devotees daily, has not seen a single devotee for about two months due to which its revenue has hit the rock bottom. Earlier, the Tirumala Tirupati temple trust had declared that it has lost Rs 400 crore of revenue due to the coronavirus lockdown as the temple is closed for around two months. The temple trust is running out of money and it does not have enough cash to pay salaries to its staff and to meet the daily expenses. 

Earlier, TOI quoted TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy as saying, "TTD is obligated to pay salaries and pensions and has a set of other fixed expenses which it has to incur irrespective of its revenues hitting rock bottom. TTD has a fixed annual expenditure of nearly Rs 2,500 crore under different heads."

For the financial year 2020-21, the Tirumala Tirupati temple trust has decided on an annual budget of Rs 3,309.89 crore. After the closure of the Tirupati temple for devotees, the trust has suffered an estimated loss in hundi collections alone of Rs 150-175 crore.

Besides that, the trust witnessed a dip in the sale of darshan tickets and arjitha sevas, prasadams, accommodation, and donations.