TIRUPATI: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Trust Board, which manages the affairs of the world-renowned Hindu temple of Lord Venkateswara, has approved its annual budget for the financial year of 2023-2024 with an estimated outlay of Rs 4,411.68 crore. This is the highest budget estimate approved by any trust board since the inception of the temple body in 1933.
Extending Telugu Ugadi greetings to devotees from Tirumala, TTD Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy along with TTD EO A.V. Dharma Reddy released the annual budget at Rs 4411.68 crores. The Chairman said that the outcome of proceedings during the board meeting held on February 15 were not disclosed due to the MLC elections code.
He said that the revenue of Hundi has increased in an incredible manner post Covid-19. “During last year, the Hundi collections stood at Rs 1613 crore (2022-23) as against Rs 1200 crore before Covid. Similarly, the virtual sevas during the Covid period and interests on bank deposits post covid have impacted the revenue”, he noted.
The trust board hopes to earn a major chunk of its income from Srivari Hundi at Tirumala temple – estimated as Rs 1,591 crore, while the major outgo is towards human resource payments which were pegged at Rs 1532.20 crore. The board estimated to generate Rs 990 crore from interest on investments, whereas in the last financial year, the TTD earned a whooping of Rs 813 crore.
The other estimates (sources of funds) include Rs 500 crore from prasadam receipts, Rs 330 crore from Darshanam receipts, Rs 140 crore from arjitha seva receipts, Rs 126.5 crore from Kalyanakatta, Rs 129 crore from accommodation and Kalyana mandapam receipts, Rs 101.38 crore from loans and advances to employees, EMD, Security and Deposits etc, Rs 65 crore from trust receipts, Rs 48 crore from electrical and water charges, Rs 30.25 crore from publication receipts and Rs 68.70 crore from other receipts.
On the other hand, the trust board also presented the annual expenditures for the fiscal 2023-2024. The estimated major expenditure would be Rs 1,532.20 crore for paying wages and salaries to the employees, Rs 690.50 crore for material purchases, Rs 600 crore for corpus and other investments, Rs 300 crore for engineering works and Rs 25 crore for Srinivasa Setu works and Rs 151.62 crore for loans and advances to employees.
Similarly, Rs 86 crore was earmarked for SVIMS engineering capital works and revenue grant, Rs 120 crore for engineering maintenance works, Rs 60 crore for facility management services, Rs 93 crore for HDPP and allied project payments. Other expenditures include Rs 115.5 crore for grants to other institutions, Rs 75 crore for pension and EHS fund contributions and Rs 55 crores for electric charges.
There is a mention about other expenditures including contributions to state government – Rs 50 crore including Rs 40 crore towards common good fund and Rs 5 crore each towards endowment administration fund and archaka welfare fund. For other payments, maintenance, capital works and tender publications and advertisements, the estimates were put at Rs 134.58 crore. The closing cash and bank balances were put at Rs 324.28 crore.
The budget 2023-24 marked some significance to the Vigilance and Security departments, as the board allocated Rs 178.33 crore to this department. The board allocated Rs 157.88 crores for TTD educational institutions and grants to other universities and Rs. 194.10 crore for TTD hospitals and dispensaries, grants to SVIMS, BIRRD hospital and SV Pranadana trust.
