Odisha to park Srimandir funds in two nationalised banks

Puri: Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) has decided to keep temple and corpus funds in two nationalised banks in Odisha.

The corpus and temple funds of Rs 287 crore of Lord Jagannath will be kept in the Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India in equal parts as fixed deposits at an annual interest rate of 6.26%, informed SJTA Administrator (Development) Ajay Kumar Jena today.

Earlier, the temple authorities had decided to deposit the funds in Union Bank of India at an interest rate of 5.75%.

As the interest rate was low, the temple administration again invited an open tender following which it was decided to keep Lord Jagannath’s funds in two nationalised banks, the official said.

Worth mentioning, the state government had drawn flak over Srimandir deposits parked in cash-strapped Yes Bank after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) placed the financial institution under moratorium.

Recently, the private bank has returned Srimandir funds of Rs 389 crore with an interest of Rs 8,23,27,636 crore of total funds amounting to Rs 545 crore in first phase. The rest principal amount of Rs 156 crore will be transferred to the SBI account of Jagannath Temple Corpus Fund at Puri Main Branch after the fixed deposit matures on March 30.