The net worth of Tirupati’s world-famous Lord Venkateswara temple is more than Rs 2.5 lakh crore (approximately USD 30 billion), which is greater than the market capitalisation of IT services firm Wipro, food and beverage company Nestle, and state-owned oil giants ONGC and IOC.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, the keeper of the temple dedicated to Tirupati’s presiding deity, declared its net worth for the first time since its inception in 1933.
Its assets include 10.25 tonnes of gold deposits in banks, 2.5 tonnes of gold jewellery, about Rs 16,000 crore of deposits in banks, and 960 properties across India. All these total to over Rs 2.5 lakh crore.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is becoming increasingly wealthy as cash and gold offerings from devotees at the hill temple continue to rise, and fixed deposits in banks are also generating more income as interest rates rise, according to a temple official.
The assets owned by TTD include land parcels, buildings, cash and gold deposits in the banks, given as offerings to the temple by devotees.
According to temple officials, assigning a value to priceless antique jewelry and properties such as cottages and guest houses on the seven hills to provide amenities to devotees could be misleading and thus does not form part of the estimated general asset value.
