Tirumala, January 31: Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Specified Authority has decided to fill the Lord’s Treasury with all the accumulated wealth.
As a first step in that direction, the administration began strengthining the financial inflows by augmenting the revenue from permament assets and by halting withdrawal of funds from the fixed deposits.
The authority also fixed a target of depositing 3,000 kg of gold with banks.
Next, the TTD will deposit 1,179 kg of gold with nationalised banks to fetch it 1.61 per cent interest. Last year it had deposited 726.555 kg of gold with SBI, receiving 1.60 pc interest per annum.
Gold deposits fetch the TTD income in the form of interest. In 2004 the TTD deposited gold bars weighing about 1,125 kg with Corporation Bank.
The TTD recovered purified gold after melting the gold ornaments, gold articles and gold-on-copper. For that purpose it struck a deal with banks to transport the gold articles to the government mint at Mumbai at their own cost. Interestingly, the TTD had sent 1,075 kg of gold but after purification it got only 726.555 kg of the precious metal of 999 fineness.
According to the MoU signed with the banks, the banks were to bear the cost of melting and assaying by the Mines & Minerals Trading Corporation Mint and also in accordance with the specification of melting, refining and conversion into gold bars as laid down by the ministry of commerce.
–Agenciees