Zeebiz Bureau
New Delhi: Tirupati temple of Lord Venkateswara, which is known for its generous pilgrims, is all set to get a whooping Rs 52,000 crore insurance cover soon.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, the trust which manages the temple, has decided to buy insurance cover on the jewellery of Lord Venkateswara, valued at around Rs 52,000 crore, a newspaper said on Friday.
Tirupati Balaji temple, which sees close to 70,000 devotees everyday, receives around USD 2 million every month as donations besides other revenue streams like ticket sales, sale of confectionaries and auctions.
The temple is said to have 20 tonnes of gold and diamond jewellery and some of them date back to the 12th century.
Last year, one Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy had offered a diamond-studded crown worth Rs 42 crore to the God.
However, insuring the wealth of Tirupati Balaji seems to be a mammoth task, the newspaper added, as “the premium can be quite high considering the risks involved and antique characteristics of the assets”.
If the deal goes through, Tirumala will surpass ONGC which has a cover of USD 26 billion.
First Published: Friday, September 03, 2010, 09:25