Maharashtra govt leases out second Bandra plot to Tirupati temple board for 30 yrs at Re 1 annual fee

The 395 square metre land has been allocated to build facilities like parking space, info centre, etc. A 648 square metre plot was leased out in 2019 for Balaji temple construction.

File photo of the temple in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh | Commons

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government Tuesday decided to allocate a second plot in Bandra to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to build additional facilities, after allocating one plot in the Mumbai suburb to build a temple six years ago.

In a cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Tuesday, the government approved the lease of 395 square metres of government land in Bandra to the TTD for 30 years at a nominal annual rent of one rupee.

The newly allocated land—located in front of the 648 square metres of land already leased in 2019 for the construction of a Balaji Temple—will be used to build a parking lot, information centre and office space, among other facilities.

Construction of the temple was to begin in 2021, but was delayed because of the COVID pandemic. It is yet to begin.

Under the lease, 2,000 square feet in the Tirumala Tirupati Temple will be given to the collector and will be reserved for the government. The land will remain the property of the Maharashtra government, and the temple will only be used for approved purposes.

Earlier this year, TTD Chairman B.R. Naidu formally submitted a requisition to Fadnavis requesting land for the construction of a new Ammavari temple in Navi Mumbai and the TTD Information Centre in Bandra.

In 2019, the Maharashtra government, under the then CM Fadnavis, allocated 648 square metres of land in Bandra East to the TTD for the construction of a replica of the Tirupati Balaji Temple.

The cost of building the temple was estimated at Rs 30 crore and construction was to start in January 2021, but the TTD has yet to begin construction.

In 2022, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi MVA government leased 10 acres of land in Navi Mumbai’s Ulwe, at the rate of one rupee per square metre, to the TTD for the construction of the Lord Venkateswara Swamy Temple, which is set to be a replica of the Tirumala Temple in Andhra Pradesh. This temple is under construction, and the project is primarily financed by the Raymond Group.

(Edited by Sugita Katyal)