Tirupati temple faces money crunch, plans to take loans

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has reported massive losses, including a shortage of more than Rs 800 crores in revenue. The trust, which manages one of the richest Hindu shrines of the world, is now contemplating drawing loans from banks to make up for their losses.

TTD has earned Rs 270 crore in the current financial year — a sum much lower than its estimated revenue of Rs 1,100 crore. The amount takes into account interests from bank deposits worth Rs 240 crore, indicating that devotees have brought in only Rs 30 crore in recent months.

Even revenue from laddu sales have fallen to only Rs 3.5 crore, reported TTD. The board had previously announced a budget of Rs 3,309 crore for the financial year of 2020-21, but the amount may be slashed to Rs 2,000 crore given the current situation.

The trust is already running on a reported budget deficiency of Rs 40 crore.

The financial crisis is being seen as a result of the drop in footfall at temples due to Covid-19 concerns. Even though the TTD still permits 12,000 visitors daily, the temple has been drawing an average of only 5000 people every day.

The Tirumala Bypass Road has also been kept open for pilgrim traffic, even though the Chittoor district administration declared Tirupati a containment zone on 20 July.