Tirupati (The Hawk): With a net worth of over 2.5 lakh crore (roughly 30 billion USD), Tirupati's renowned Lord Venkateswara temple has a greater market value than IT services provider Wipro, the food and beverage manufacturer Nestle, and the state-owned oil tycoons Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation combined (IOC).
For the first time since its creation in 1933, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, caretaker of the temple devoted to Tirupati's presiding deity, disclosed its financial status.
Among its assets are 10.25 tonnes of gold in bank deposits, 2.5 tonnes of gold jewellery, around 16,000 crore in bank deposits, and 960 properties spread out across India. The sum of all of these exceeds 2.5 lakh crore.
Several blue-chip Indian companies are worth more than the Tirupati temple's net worth at the current market price, according to stock exchange data.
At the close of trade on Friday, UltraTech Cement had a market value of $1.99 lakh crore, while Bengaluru-based Wipro had a market cap of $2.14 lakh crore.
With a market cap of 1.96 lakh crore, the India division of the Swiss multinational food and beverage company Nestle was also undervalued.
The temple trust was valued lower than state-owned oil giants Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), as well as the power giant NTPC Ltd, the automakers Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors, the world's largest coal producer Coal India Ltd, the mining conglomerate Vedanta, the real estate firm DLF, and numerous other companies.
Only a small handful of businesses have market values greater than the net wealth of the temple trust.
These include Reliance Industries Ltd., owned by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, with revenues of Rs. 17.53 trillion, Tata Consultancy Services, with revenues of Rs. 11.76 trillion, HDFC Bank, with revenues of Rs. 8.34 trillion, Infosys, with revenues of Rs. 6.37 trillion, ICICI Bank, with revenues of Rs. 6.31 trillion, Hindustan Unilever Ltd., with revenues of Rs. 5.92 trillion, State Bank of India, with revenues of Rs (Rs 4.38 lakh crore).
According to a temple official, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is getting richer and richer as cash and gold gifts from pilgrims at the hill temple climb and fixed deposits in banks generate more money as interest rates rise.
The property possessed by TTD consists of land plots, structures, money, and gold deposits made in banks as donations to the temple by worshippers.
According to temple officials, placing a value on precious antique jewellery and real estate, such as cottages and guest houses on the seven hills to accommodate pilgrims, could be misconstrued and does not contribute to the estimated total asset worth.
Devotees adore the vast seven hills as Lord Venkateswara's home and hold them in high regard. The TTD forecasted over 668 crore as income in the form of interest from cash deposits in banks in its over 3,100 crore annual budget for 2022–23, which was announced in February. Additionally, in the hundi of the hill temple, 1,000 crore in income was forecast from just the monetary offerings made by about 2.5 crore pilgrims.
In Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Haryana, Maharashtra, and New Delhi, TTD is in charge of managing a sizable number of temples.
(Inputs from Agencies)
