TTD allots plot for guest house, fourth time in two decades

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has once again allotted a plot to board member Janga Krishnamurthy for building a guest house at Tirumala, a process that has been repeating for twenty years.

The TTD trust board, at its recent meeting, resolved to allot plot No. 2 at Balaji Nagar atop Tirumala to Mr. Janga Krishnamurthy for the construction of a guesthouse.

The MLC had first applied for the same in 2005 and it was approved by the then board. However, when the TTD hiked the donation amount for individual donor cottages from ₹10 lakh to ₹50 lakh, he failed to pay the amount, leading to its cancellation.

The Endowments Department directed the TTD to once again allot the plot to him in 2008, but the construction of the guest house did not start. After thirteen years, the TTD management once again allotted the same plot to Mr. Krishnamurthy in 2021, with a demand to pay the cost of ₹1.1 crore towards the same.

But in October 2022, Mr. Krishnamurthy sought allotment of the same site in the name of ‘Om Sree Namo Venkatesaya Global Trust’. The TTD trust board, at its meeting dated April 15, 2023, not only cancelled the allotment made in his name for failure to make the payment, but also declined to transfer the plot allotted in the name of an individual to a trust, explicitly terming it as against the TTD’s rules and regulations.

After the change of guard in the State, Mr. Krishnamurthy was nominated to the board in November 2024 and he, for the fourth time, applied for the allotment of the same plot.

The trust board approved his plea at the old rate, though donors are reportedly ready to pay upwards of ₹7 crore for the same, sources said.

Notably, fellow board member and BJP State spokesperson G. Bhanuprakash Reddy marked his dissent over the approval in the board meeting. He had, in the past, objected to the TTD allocating land parcels to individuals are throwaway prices, which later led to the introduction of auction system.

The trust board members and officials opined that while the intent behind Mr. Janga Krishnamurthy’s request for allotment of a plot in the name of a trust may be devotional without any personal gain, it raised ‘serious concerns of institutional propriety and conflict of interest’ as he was not only a trust board member but also in the Estates Committee that deals with land allotment.