Rs 290 crore budget for Puri temple

Puri: The Sri Mandir Temple Managing Committee on Saturday approved Rs 290 crore budget for 2017-18 financial year.

The meeting of the temple body presided over by Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingh Dev discussed about the sources of income and expenditure on various heads.

The budget allocated Rs 23 crore for temple’s daily rituals, Rs 1.5 crore for administrative work and Rs 25 crore for the management. Similarly, Rs 17 crore was allocated for the servitors welfare while Rs 40 crore will be spent on the construction of pilgrim shelters.

In the new financial year, the focus will be on opening of new model schools for the kids of servitors and construction of guest houses for pilgrim. At least 240 rooms will constructed within three or four months, temple chief administrator SC Mohapatra