Shirdi Saibaba Temple’s income dips by Rs 174 crore due to Coronavirus-induced lockdown

As places of worship were closed due to the Coronavirus-induced lockdowns, the Saibaba temple in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra, is facing huge loss in the income, a top official said on Wednesday according to PTI.

“The shrine received the income of Rs 115.16 crore from March 17 to August 31 this year, as against Rs 289.55 it had received in the corresponding period last year. This means the income has dipped by Rs 174 crore,” said Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust CEO Kanhuraj Bagate to PTI.

The shrines  has been closed since March 17,  and the Sai Baba Mandir Trust at Shirdi had earlier reported that they are faceing a loss of approximately Rs Rs 1.58 crores daily.

But at the same time, the donations made through online mode has seen rise in comparison to that of the  corresponding period in the previous year.

“The trust received Rs 11.47 crore as online donations compared to Rs 1.89 crore it had received through online mode from March 17 to August 31, 2019,” the CEO said. “Last year, the shrine had received a donation of 8.868 kg gold and 194 kg silver jewellery, but during the lockdown, it received only 162 gm gold and 2.6 kg silver,” he added.

The maximum income that they earned during lockdown was through interests received on fixed deposits, i.e Rs 94.39 crore and the cash donations were 18.32 lakh.

The trust spends Rs 55 crore towards the management of the temple and  an amount of Rs 13 crore is utilised for paying their 5,500 employees.