LUCKNOW: With the Ram temple in Ayodhya nearing its completion, which is expected to end by April, Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has come out with the figures of the total expenditure incurred by it towards the temple construction, ongoing projects and other verticals.
As per the temple trust, it has spent Rs 2,150 crore till date in the ongoing construction work of Ram Mandir over five years after the Trust was constituted on February 5, 2020.
At a meeting of the Board of Trustees of temple trust at Mani Ram Das Chhavni in Ayodhya on Sunday, it was decided that after the demise of Acharya Satyendra Das, the head priest of the temple, last month, there will be no chief priest of the Ram Mandir. In the meeting which was presided over by trust president Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, 12 of the 15 board members had taken part. Four of them joined online while two could not attend and another member Kameshwar Kameshwar Chaupal died on February 7. this year.
Sharing the information about the expenditure, the trust general secretary Champat Rai said in the last five years the Trust paid Rs 396 crore as taxes, cess and service charges during the period. Out of this amount, Rs 272 crore was paid as GST to the government, Rai added.
The Trust had received 944 kg of silver from devotees in the last five years which is around 92 percent pure. The maximum amount was spent on construction work with payment worth Rs 1200 crores being made under the head. The trust released the details of its expenses as well as a timeline of the pending construction works.
The Minting Corporation, a government of India body, has minted silver into 20 kg silver bricks. “The Trust has received these silver bricks which have been kept in bank lockers,” Rai said.
On the occasion, Rai also informed that 96 per cent of the construction work of Ram Mandir was over with the remaining ones expected to be achieved by Akshaya Tritiya (April 30) and efforts are also on to introduce a Bhandara – a community kitchen service on Shree Ram Janmabhoomi campus.
On this Ram Navami, which will fall on April 6, Sun rays will illuminate Ram Lalla at noon for around four minutes. Public broadcaster Doordarshan will broadcast live the Surya Tilak event and 50 LCD screens will be put up across Ayodhya for locals to view the spectacle.