Tamil Nadu: Unused temple jewellery converted into gold bars

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government initiated the process of monetisation of temple jewellery by converting 27,250g of gold of the Irukkankudi Mariamman temple in Virudhunagar district into gold bonds worth ₹10 crore. Chief minister M K Stalin handed over the gold bonds to temple authorities on Wednesday.
The TN government had announced in October last year that it would monetise the unused gold in the form of jewellery and bars in temples, purify it and then convert them into gold bars and deposit in nationalised banks.
Gold that has been donated to temples over the past decade were assessed and those that were not used were sent to the gold purifying facility of the Union government and moulded into bars. The bars thus invested would bring revenue for the temples, which could be used for its various schemes.
The temples were divided into Chennai, Trichy and Madurai zones, and retired judges were appointed to supervise the proceedings. This scheme was inaugurated by the CM through video conferencing on October 13, last year. Retired judge Justice R Mala was in charge of the Irukkankudi temple gold conversion scheme in the Madurai zone.
As much as 27,250g of gold was segregated and sent to the central government facility on April 1 this year. The gold bars were deposited in the SBI’s bullion branch in Mumbai on April 29. This gold deposit would generate an annual income of ₹24 lakh for the temple as interest.
Minister for HR&CE P K Sekhar Babu, principal secretary HR&CE, B Chandramohan and HR&CE commissioner J Kumaragurubaran among others were present at the event.