Rich Indian temple deposits over 1300 kg of gold bars in bank

MUMBAI (Scrap Monster): The Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD)- the trust which manages the Balaji or Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India has announced that it had deposited over 1,300 kilograms of pure gold bars with a public sector bank under the government’s new Gold Monetization Scheme. The Balaji Tirupati temple is considered to be the one of the world’s richest temple.

According to TTD spokesperson, it has deposited 1,311 kilograms of gold bars with the Punjab National Bank (PNB). Negotiations are on with other public sector banks on better interest rates for making more such deposits. The current deposit is for three years and carries an interest rate of 1.75% per annum. The scheme allows deposits to be redeemed in gold, he added.

The TTD had earlier deposited 4.2 tonnes of gold under the old Gold Deposit Scheme with the State Bank of India (SBI). TTD’s gold deposits now total around 5.5 tonnes.

Meantime, TTD has written letters to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the central government, requesting amendment to the scheme. It has demanded that the deposits under medium and long term schemes of the Gold Monetization Scheme should also be redeemable in gold so that depositor-temples get more attractive returns.

The much publicized gold monetization scheme has been able to attract deposits of only 3 tonnes since its launch four months ago. The TTD’s decision to deposit gold is expected to give big boost to the scheme.

The country’s gold monetization scheme allows deposits in the form of gold bars, coins, and jewelry without embedded stones. The minimum deposit quantity is fixed as 30 grams of 995 fineness raw gold, whereas deposits do not have any maximum limit. The gold deposit accounts denominated in gold are maintained by the Reserve Bank of India.