TTD to auction its properties worth ₹1.54 crore in TN

Sivakumar.B @timesgroup.com

Chennai:25.05.2020

The richest temple body in the country, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), is all set to place agriculture land, house buildings and 16 house sites across Tamil Nadu on the auction block. This is part of a plan by the TTD to raise about ₹100 crore by monetizing its unviable properties spread across a few states including Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu by raising funds under the cottage donation scheme during the financial year 2020-21. The proposal was approved by the TTD trust board during a meeting held in Tirumala on February 29.

The total worth of the land and buildings in Tamil Nadu to be auctioned is estimated at ₹1.54 crore. Two sub-committees have been set up by the TTD to hold the auction. Parcels of agriculture land belonging to the TTD trust are located in Cauvery delta districts besides Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram while house sites are mostly in undivided Vellore district, Dharmapuri and Villupuram districts.

TTD sources said all these properties were donated by devotees several decades ago. Of the 23 properties on the auction block, a house located in Gudiyatham is valued at ₹43.74 lakh.

The two committees with four members each are responsible for conducting the auction, finalizing the successful bidders, registration of documents in favour of successful bidders and remittance of sale proceeds into the TTD account.

The two committees are to prepare a plan of action for conducting the public auction.

“It was a proposal of the TTD board to auction the properties in 2015 but there were some legal problems. Now, all those issues have been cleared,” a TTD Board member told TOI.