TTD chief proposes to reduce Amaravati temple’s budget

TIRUPATI: Amidst discussions over the fate of Amaravati as the state capital, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) announced that it will trim down budget allocation for the construction of the Lord Venkateswara temple in Amaravati capital region from Rs 150 crore to Rs 36 crore.
Speaking to reporters at Vijayawada, TTD Chairman YV Subba Reddy pointed out that the TDP regime had directed the TTD to construct a Lord Venkateswara temple in the capital region after deciding that Amaravati would be the capital.Accordingly, the Chandrababu Naidu government had allocated land to the TTD for the purpose.
“The then trust board gave a go-ahead and had earmarked a sum of Rs 150 crore for the construction of Sri Venkateswara Divya Kshetram at Venkata Palem village in Amaravati. Tenders were called for and work related to the construction of the temple had also commenced,” Subba Reddy recalled.

“However, we strongly feel that though the construction of a new temple in the capital region is justified, the previous trust board had included the construction of parks and kalyana mandapams too which had escalated the project cost considerably, posing an additional and unnecessary financial burden on the TTD. Hence we have decided to review the budgetary allocations,” informed the TTD chairman, adding that the exercise will be taken up immediately after a new trust board is formed and after consulting the chief minister.
Pointing out that the TTD had recently constructed a new Lord Venkateswara temple at Hyderabad’s Jubilee Hills, spending approximately Rs 30 crore, Subba Reddy felt that it would be appropriate for the TTD to restrict itself to the construction of just the temple in Amaravati and spend Rs 30 crore to Rs 36 crore. However, he promised that the ongoing work will not stop and the temple will come upon the earmarked site.
“We welcome the former CM’s decision but we are against overspending. There are hardly any people in the capital region. We are not sure whether people will come to the temple at all. Why should we construct parks or kalyana mandapams,” the TTD chairman asked.
Adding that the core responsibility of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams was to take Lord Venkateswara closer to the devotees by constructing temples across the country, Subba Reddy underlined that promoting tourism was not its responsibility. “Spending TTD funds for promoting tourism is a major blunder committed by the previous regime,” he said.