Page 49 - Banking Finance December 2022

FEATURES

Net worth of

Tirupati temple

more than that of

Wipro, ONGC

irupati's world famous Lord Venkateswara These include billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance
T temple's net worth of over Rs 2.5 lakh crore Industries Ltd (Rs 17.53 lakh crore), Tata Consultancy
(about USD 30 billion) is more than the market
Services (Rs 11.76 lakh crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 8.34 lakh
capitalisation of IT services firm Wipro, food and
crore), Infosys (Rs 6.37 lakh crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 6.31 lakh
beverage company Nestle and state-owned oil giants ONGC crore), Hindustan Unilever Ltd (Rs 5.92 lakh crore), State
and IOC. Bank of India (Rs 5.29 lakh crore), Bharti Airtel (Rs 4.54 lakh
crore) and ITC (Rs 4.38 lakh crore).
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, keeper of the temple
dedicated to Tirupati's presiding deity, for the first time since Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) is growing richer and
its founding in 1933 declared its net worth. richer as the cash and gold offerings made by devotees at
the hill temple continue to rise and fixed deposits in banks
Its assets include 10.25 tonnes of gold deposits in banks, 2.5
are also generating more income in view of increase in
tonnes of gold jewellery, about Rs 16,000 crore of deposits
in banks, and 960 properties across India. All these total to interest rates, a temple official said.
over Rs 2.5 lakh crore. The assets owned by TTD include land parcels, buildings,
cash and gold deposits in the banks, given as offerings to
At current trading price, the networth of Tirupati temple is
the temple by devotees.
more than several blue-chip Indian firms, according to stock
exchange data. Assigning a value to priceless antique jewellery and
Bengaluru-based Wipro had a market cap of Rs 2.14 lakh properties including cottages and guest houses on the seven
crore at close of trading, while UltraTech Cement had a hills to provide amenities to devotees could be misleading
market value of Rs 1.99 lakh crore. and hence does not form part of the estimated general
asset value, temple officials said.
Swiss multinational food and drink major Nestle's India unit,
with a market cap of Rs 1.96 lakh crore, too was valued The sprawling seven hills are held sacred by devotees and
below it. are revered as the abode of Lord Venkateswara.
State-owned oil behemoths Oil and Natural Gas Corporation In its about Rs 3,100 crore annual budget for 2022-23
(ONGC) and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) too were valued presented in February, the TTD has projected over Rs 668
less than the temple trust and so was power giant NTPC Ltd, crore as income in the form of interests from cash deposits
auto makers Mahindra and Mahindra and Tata Motors, in banks. Also, Rs 1,000 crore income was predicted in the
world's largest coal producer Coal India Ltd, mining form of cash offerings alone -- by about 2.5 crore devotees
conglomerate Vedanta, real estate firm DLF and several -- in the hundi of the hill temple.
others.
TTD administers a large number of temples in Andhra
Only about two dozen companies have market valuation Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Odisha, Haryana,
larger than the temple trust's networth. Maharashtra and New Delhi. (Source: BS)

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