Fri. Mar 29th, 2024
GoldGold

Gold received in temples from devotees in the form of offerings will be converted into 24-carat gold bars under a scheme launched by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin.

About 2,137 kg of gold jewellery has been decided to be melted into gold bars at the government mint in Mumbai followed by their deposition in nationalised banks.

Samayapuram, Thiruverkadu and Irukkankudi were the pioneer temples where this gold monetization scheme was launched. 

This comes after the Tamil Nadu BJP challenged the state government’s decision to melt gold offerings into gold bars and deposit them in nationalised banks before the Madras High Court.

The state administration told the high court yesterday that the melting of gold jewellery from temples in Tamil Nadu is not novel and has been practised since 1977.

Advocate-General R Shanmugasundaram, representing the Tamil Nadu government’s side told a vacation bench of Justices R Mahadevan and Abdul Quddhose, five lakh grams of gold has been turned into bars and deposited in banks, which generated revenue for Rs 11 crore to the State exchequer.

He commented at a hearing on petitions challenging the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department’s September 9 and 22 announcements.

According to PTI, the AG told the court that certain people were making a big deal over the gold monetisation plan today since they were unaware of its existence since 1977.

The Tamil Nadu government gave instructions to melt gold jewellery received as offerings by temples that are managed by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment Board. 

A panel headed by a retired judge of the Supreme Court, assisted by two retired judges of the High Court has been formed by the HR&CE department to monitor the entire process so that transparency can be maintained.

By Harshita Sharma

I bring to you updates from business, policy and economy spectrum.

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