Lord Balaji's temple in Tirupati could join Modi's plan to recycle tonnes of gold lying idle

The temple of Lord Balaji in Tirupati is believed to be the richest Hindu temple in the world with its huge hoard of over 20,000-tonnes of gold that is lying idle. It could soon come to the rescue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's plan to recycle tonnes of idle gold and help to reduce economy-hurting imports. So far, the gold monetisation scheme, that is aimed at persuading individuals, institutions and rich temples to deposit some of their gold stash with banks to recycle, has attracted only one kg in a month out of a total hoard of over 20,000 tonnes.
The Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple, also known as the Tirupati Temple, is believed to have been the abode of Lord Vekateswara for 5,000 years and might become the biggest contributor to the scheme with more than 5.5 tonnes of gold.

The finance minister of Andhra Pradesh, where the temple is located. has already issued a directive to go for the scheme.
India is the world's second-largest consumer of gold after China and the country's consumption added up to imports of the precious metal which accounted for 28 percent of India's trade deficit in the year ending March 2013.
Till now, devotees, seeking divine blessings, have offered billions of dollars worth of jewellery, bars and coins to temples over the centuries and most of the temples do not disclose their holdings which are usually hidden in underground vaults.

Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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