HYDERABAD: He's the world's richest god and going by the number of pilgrims visiting his abode, he could arguably be the most powerful one too. The value of his worldly possessions seems to be almost half of the Andhra Pradesh budget of Rs 1 lakh crore. And the onus of protecting his worldly possessions rests with the trust manning his abode.
To protect this asset, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam ( TTD) board has decided to buy insurance cover on the jewellery of Lord Venkateswara, valued at around Rs 52,000 crore. The decision will throw open the country's biggest gold insurance market. "No single insurance company can underwrite such a risk on its own books...," said a senior official of a large non-life firm.
The board is looking at partnering a state-owned general insurance firm for insuring these assets. The insurer who gets the mandate will have to strike a reinsurance deal with an international reinsurer.
Every day close to 70,000 devotees visit Tirupati Balaji temple. In many cases, the donantions are unusually generous. Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, for instance, had offered a diamond-studded crown worth Rs 42 crore to the God last year.
The temple owns about 20 tonnes of gold and diamond jewellery and some of them date back to the 12th century. "We have decided to take insurance cover for these valuable assets. Considering that some of these jewellery come under antique category, it will be insured based on its historical value. Currently, we are in the process of assessing the exact value at which these assets can be insured and we have an in-house team looking into it. Only after the completion of the valuation process we can go for an insurance cover and then we will decide on the formalities for selecting the insurance company,'' said a TTD official.
Despite TTD's efforts, insuring the wealth of Tirupati Balaji seems to be a mammoth task, and has remained an unfulfilled wish. Insurance experts say the premium can be quite high considering the risks involved and antique characteristics of the assets.
Arriving at antique value of jewellery can be a huge challenge for TTD as they need to have documentation to prove historical significance. Insurers say if all the gold is in one place it would require reinsurance support and this might call for survey's.
Tough to put figure
TTD is still at a stage where it is trying to estimate the value and would only then hold discussions for a cover. Usually government departments proceed on their insurance plans by issuing an RFP (request for proposals) followed by submission of bids.
Though TTD is yet to come out with exact valuation of the assets to be insured, preliminary data shows it could be over $10 billion. This can be considered as the largest in terms of assets in a single location, considering that over 80% of the valuable assets belong to the sacred temple of Sri Venkateswara located on the seventh peak, Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) of the Tirupati Hill. TTD maintains 12 temples and their sub-shrines.
Till now, ONGC with assets spread in several locations, has the largest insurance cover of $26 billion.
Good news for all balaji devotees who staying in mumbai, Lord Venkateshwara’s Shree Balaji Temple established in Mumbai Western Area. Shree Balaji Temple Project developed by shree balaji foundation in a distinct style at Charkop, Mumbai. visit us at http://www.shreebalajimandir.org
Source: - articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com
To protect this asset, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam ( TTD) board has decided to buy insurance cover on the jewellery of Lord Venkateswara, valued at around Rs 52,000 crore. The decision will throw open the country's biggest gold insurance market. "No single insurance company can underwrite such a risk on its own books...," said a senior official of a large non-life firm.
The board is looking at partnering a state-owned general insurance firm for insuring these assets. The insurer who gets the mandate will have to strike a reinsurance deal with an international reinsurer.
Every day close to 70,000 devotees visit Tirupati Balaji temple. In many cases, the donantions are unusually generous. Karnataka minister Gali Janardhan Reddy, for instance, had offered a diamond-studded crown worth Rs 42 crore to the God last year.
The temple owns about 20 tonnes of gold and diamond jewellery and some of them date back to the 12th century. "We have decided to take insurance cover for these valuable assets. Considering that some of these jewellery come under antique category, it will be insured based on its historical value. Currently, we are in the process of assessing the exact value at which these assets can be insured and we have an in-house team looking into it. Only after the completion of the valuation process we can go for an insurance cover and then we will decide on the formalities for selecting the insurance company,'' said a TTD official.
Despite TTD's efforts, insuring the wealth of Tirupati Balaji seems to be a mammoth task, and has remained an unfulfilled wish. Insurance experts say the premium can be quite high considering the risks involved and antique characteristics of the assets.
Arriving at antique value of jewellery can be a huge challenge for TTD as they need to have documentation to prove historical significance. Insurers say if all the gold is in one place it would require reinsurance support and this might call for survey's.
Tough to put figure
TTD is still at a stage where it is trying to estimate the value and would only then hold discussions for a cover. Usually government departments proceed on their insurance plans by issuing an RFP (request for proposals) followed by submission of bids.
Though TTD is yet to come out with exact valuation of the assets to be insured, preliminary data shows it could be over $10 billion. This can be considered as the largest in terms of assets in a single location, considering that over 80% of the valuable assets belong to the sacred temple of Sri Venkateswara located on the seventh peak, Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) of the Tirupati Hill. TTD maintains 12 temples and their sub-shrines.
Till now, ONGC with assets spread in several locations, has the largest insurance cover of $26 billion.
Good news for all balaji devotees who staying in mumbai, Lord Venkateshwara’s Shree Balaji Temple established in Mumbai Western Area. Shree Balaji Temple Project developed by shree balaji foundation in a distinct style at Charkop, Mumbai. visit us at http://www.shreebalajimandir.org
Source: - articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com
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