Ram Mandir trust says ‘Rs 900 cr spent, Rs 3,000 cr left’, seeks licence to accept foreign funds

Trust general secretary says construction work will proceed in 3 phases & be completed by 2025-end, adds that trust has been in talks with UP govt to take over Ayodhya’s Ram Katha museum.

Almost Rs 900 crore has been spent on the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya so far and Rs 3,000 crore still remains unused, the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra, a trust set up for building and managing the temple. The trust has now applied for getting funds in foreign currency.

Following a meeting of trust officials in Ayodhya Saturday, its general secretary Champat Rai told media persons late evening that it had submitted an application for registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), the law that regulates foreign contributions to Indian entities and their subsidiaries.

Rai said that discussions were held on a total of 18 points during the meeting.

“So far, the trust had not put up any application to the government of India for getting funds in foreign currency (for the temple’s construction). There were legal reasons behind it. But now, we have completed all formalities and have submitted an application for registration of the trust under the FCRA via online mode,” he added.

The Supreme Court’s  in November 2019, settling the Babri Masjid dispute in favour of the Ram Mandir, had paved the way for the construction of the temple.

Subsequently, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in power at the Centre, and its associates in 2021 launched a “Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan” for collection of funds for the construction of the temple — one of the main poll promises of the BJP for more than three decades.

“If we start from 5 February, 2020, till 31 March, 2023, almost Rs 900 crore have been spent on the Mandir’s construction and other related works. Even today, in saving deposits and fixed deposits, we still have more than Rs 3,000 crore — which means very little of what has been collected under the ‘Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan’ has been spent so far,” said Rai.

“The money that has been received through donations via online mode, etc, is also being used continuously,” he added.

Rai also pointed out that all prior analysis of the speed of construction work had “turned out wrong”.

“In the beginning, we had thought that the work would be completed in these many years, but none of us had the experience of working with stone. Larson & Toubro and Tata (companies engaged in the construction work) did not have that experience. They had never done stone-carving, and hence, all analyses were wrong,” he said.

According to Rai, discussions were held at the meeting of trust officials on construction work proceeding further in three phases.

“The first phase will include completion of the ground floor of the temple and pran pratishtha (consecration of the idol of Ram Lalla) by January 2024, the second phase will be completed by 2024-end and the third phase by December 2025,” he said.