Puri Srimandir Funds To Be Kept In UBI: Temple Administration

Puri: A day after the remission of the Jagannath Temple Corpus Fund with the principal amount with interest by the Yes Bank to the designated SBI account of the temple, the Unnayan Prasasak of the temple Ajay Kumar Jena on Friday said that the temple fund and the foundation fund of the temple will be kept in the Union Bank of India (UBI).

Jena said that regarding the deposit of the temple funds with higher interest, the temple administration had invited tenders from the nationalised banks i.e., UBI, Indian Bank and Canara Bank. But as both banks expressed their inability to keep the temple fund money at 5.75 per cent interest per annum, the administration decided to keep the money in the UBI after it agreed to pay the above interest. The temple fund and corpus fund will be kept in the UBI with a term fixed deposit for three years, he added.

He, however, said that the amount of the fund to be deposited is yet to be taken.

He also informed that the Foundation Fund of the temple to the tune of Rs 102 crore will be deposited in the State Bank of India (SBI).

The Yes Bank on Thursday had remitted the temple corpus fund amounting to Rs 397,23,27,636 to the SBI account of the temple which included the principal amount of Rs 389 crore and the interest amount of Rs 8.23 crore.

In the letter to the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) on Thursday, senior vice-president of the Yes Bank Jaydev Das had said as per the term of condition of the fixed deposit placed with the bank, the YES Bank Ltd has fully paid all the quarterly interest on time up to December 31, 2019. The remaining interest that is accrued till March 19, 2020, has been remitted along with the principal amount of Rs 389 crore to SBI account of the Jagannath Temple Corpus Fund.

He, however, said that two more fixed deposits of Rs 156 crore are also under no-premat option which does not allow the bank to pay prematurely. “As per the extended guidelines of the regulator, we shall remit the principal amount of Rs 156 crore and interest up to date on the date of maturity on March 30, 2020, to the designated account of the temple corpus fund in the SBI main branch in Puri,” he added.