Tirupati: The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams ( TTD ), which administers several temples across the country including the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala, approved a mega budget for 2019-20 projecting an estimated revenue of Rs 3116.25 crore.The TTD trust board, under the chairmanship of Putta Sudhakar Yadav and led by EO Anil Kumar Singhal from the administrative front, approved the mega budget of the temple administration at its meeting held in Tirumala on Tuesday. A major chunk of the revenue, as usual, is expected from the temple Hundi in the form of offerings made by the visiting pilgrims, which is estimated to be around Rs 1,231 crore — a slight jump from the Rs 1,206 crore netted from Hundi collections in 2018-19.Interest on investments is the second major source of income, with the estimates being pegged at Rs 845.86 crore, followed by the sale of laddu and other prasadams which are likely to fetch an income of Rs 270 crore. In addition, the TTD expects to net an income of Rs 235 crore through sale of Rs 300 special entry darshan and VIP break darshan tickets.While accommodation and rentals from Kalyana Mandapams across the country are expected to fetch the temple administration a whopping Rs 105 crore, TTD expects to receive an income of Rs 100 crore through the sale of human hair which the pilgrims offer in fulfilment of their vows during their pilgrimage to Tirumala.The TTD expects to net an income of Rs 67.54 crore by way of interests from loans and advances extended to employees, EMD, security deposits etc, while the sale of Arjitha Seva tickets is expected to fetch Rs 57 crore to the temple administration. Besides, it is likely to earn Rs 204.85 crore by way of lease and rents from hotels, shops, sale of gold dollars and other capital receipts.The utilisation of funds shows a bulk outgo of Rs 625 crore towards salaries and wages to employees, followed by Rs 541.20 crore towards the procurement of material for temples and institutions. Other major expenses include fixed assets and engineering works to the tune of Rs 400 crore, outsourcing work related expenses have been pegged at Rs 339.58 crore, grants and contributions related expenditure at Rs 283.30 crore, while Rs 260 crore will go towards pension and gratuity trust payments.Interestingly, the expenditure on corpus and other investments has dropped from Rs 200.48 crore in 2018-19. It was revised to Rs 86.15 crore for the same financial year and has now further been cropped to Rs 78.85 crore. Also, at a time when there is criticism against the abysmally low allocation for the TTD’s vigilance and security wing, the spend on security has been further trimmed — from Rs 128 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 116 crore for the financial year 2019-20.Other expenditures include Rs 75 crore for pension fund contributions, Rs 52 crore for electrical charges, Rs 135 crore towards repairs and maintenance of fixed assets, Rs 52.11 crore towards loans and advances to employees, EMD, security deposits etc, Rs 10 crore for advertisements, and Rs 264.21 crore for other capital and miscellaneous expenses.

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