The Tirumala temple – also popularly known as Balaji temple – in Tirupati, one of the richest in the country, has invested 1,311 kilogrammes of pure gold bars of 0.995 fineness in Punjab National Bank (PNB), even as the temple board wants more changes in the central government’s Gold Monetisation Scheme(GMS).
Among banks, PNB has offered the highest quotation of interest rate of 1.75% per annum under the short-termdeposit scheme for a period of three years under the GMS.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD's') Executive Officer Dr D Sambasiva Rao said the temple board has written to the Reserve Bank of India as well as the central government to amend the gold monetisation scheme.
“If we get a green signal from them, then we could be able to deposit the existing deposits as well as new ones under medium- and long-term schemes”, he added.
Short-term deposits are redeemed in gold which suits the temples. TTD is willing to put gold under medium- (5-7 years) and long-term (10- 12) years’maturity in which depositors are to be paid the rupee equivalent of the amount of gold deposited upon maturity. Now the RBI has allowed banks to offer to redeemed deposits in gold which banks have to implement by changing the structures of the schemes.
Tirumala temple gets about one tonne of gold every year as offerings from devotees. This gold is typically sent to refineries or the government mint for conversion to gold bars, which are then deposited in banks.Read More.
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