Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) disclosed that the trust has incurred a massive loss of Rs 400 crore of revenue owing to the coronavirus lockdown as the temple hasn’t been opened for over 50 days in the nationwide lockdown.
It is to be noted that the temple attracts as many as 80,000 to 100,000 devotees daily. Due to the coronavirus epidemic which has been there for about two months, the temple’s revenue hit a new low and suffered a huge loss for the first time in history.
The temple trust is running out of cash and it does not have enough money either to pay wages to its staff for their daily expenses.
According to a report published by The Times of India, which is the world’s richest trust, it has spent around a staggering Rs 300 crore on paying salaries, pensions, and other fixed expenses already.
Now, it is not finding ways to sort out the crisis without having to touch its 8 tonnes of gold reserve including Rs 14,000 crore fixed deposits.
“TTD is obligated to pay salaries and pensions and has a set of other fixed expenses which it has to incur irrespective of its revenues hitting rock bottom. TTD has a fixed annual expenditure of nearly Rs 2,500 crore under different heads,” TOI quoted TTD chairman YV Subba Reddy as saying.
It should be noted that TTD trust’s average monthly income used to stand around Rs 200-220 crore while post-lockdown, the temple raised no revenue as it has been closed to devotees.