KOLKATA: Rama Prasad Goenka, the doyen of Indian industry and founder of RPG Enterprises, had a dream to be in the Trust Board of Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) — an independent trust that manages Tirupati Temple, the richest and one of the most admired temples in India.Indira Gandhi, after returning to power in 1980, made Rama Babu a member of the trust board when the latter requested her to make him a member of TTD. Now, the younger son of R PGoenka, Sanjiv Goenka, is trying to take his father’s passion further.It was learnt that the founder of RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group is trying to bring the iconic temple to Kolkata. Sources close to the development said a plot near the city and the plan have already been approved. “The land belongs to RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. The investment is likely to be to the tune of Rs 100 crore-Rs 150 crore,” sources added. However, Sanjiv Goenka couldn’t be contacted for comments. But sources indicated that the only thing that’s delaying the dream project of Sanjiv Goenka is some internal issues of TTD.Incidentally, The board has already adopted a strategy to have temples in cities with population of more than 10 lakh. The idea is to give lakhs of Hindu devotees, who can’t find time, energy or money to make their way to the Tirupati temple in Andhra Pradesh , a chance of ‘Darshan’. The first such temple was opened in Haryana’s Kurukshetra. Spread over 5.52 acres, the Rs 35 crore Tirupati Balaji temple in Kurukshetra is Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam’s (TTD) biggest undertaking in north of the Vindhyas. Incidentally, between 50,000 and 100,000 pilgrims visit the Tirupati temple in the southern state daily. On special occasions and festivals, the number rises up to over five lakh making it one of the most-visited holy places in the world. With one temple already in Haryana, there are plans to expand it to Lucknow, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Bhubaneshwar and Kolkata. “The trust’s agenda is to provide the same services one get in Tirupati to everyone in the country,” said a source.TTD earns an average revenue of around Rs 2, 500 crore a year. The trust reportedly makes Rs 150 crore through the sale of human hair alone, with an additional Rs 175 crore revenue coming from the sale of ‘prasadam’.

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