The Rupee Conundrum Karishma Jadeja While the Reserve Bank of India, our Finance Minister, the politicians

& economists et al argue tooth and nail about the best possible solution to the current rupee crisis, there is one solution which beats them all. We need a divine intervention, quite literally! We all know that the Rupee is falling and that it is not a good thing. As one popular news channel put it, India has gone from being a breakout nation to a breakdown nation. Mukesh Ambani has become poorer by $5.6 billion since May 1st and is now down to his last $17.5 billion. And everybody from the aam aadmi to the corporate conglomerates are screaming and shouting. The Problem Most experts on the subject have slightly varying reasons as to why the rupee is free falling the way it is but here are the two big ones that are agreed upon by nearly all of them. 1. The US economy has begun recovering as a result of which foreign investment in India is rapidly decreasing. Not to mention, an announcement by the US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in August, stating a definite roll back on the Feds Quantitative Easing program sent ripples through emerging markets across the globe. For those unfamiliar with the term, Quantitative Easing is a monetary policy wherein money supply in the economy is increased due to buying of financial assets (such as bonds and stocks) from private institutions and banks. The policy ensures that long-term interest rates stay relatively low, which in turn makes people borrow and spend more money thereby boosting the economy. 2. Apart from global factors, there are a bunch of domestic factors that have contributed to the Rupee slide, the most important one being the current account deficit. A current account deficit or CAD occurs when a countrys net imports exceeds its imports thus, making it a debtor to the rest of the world. Indias CAD peaked in the fiscal year 2012-2013 to $88.2 billion due to increased imports of commodities such as oil and gold. Increased demands for imported goods increased the demand for foreign currency thereby weakening the local currency, in this case the Rupee. However, there is some hope that Indias CAD will be curbed to approximately $70 billion in the fiscal year 2013-2014 owing to a slew of measures taken by the government which includes curbing gold imports by increasing the import duty on the precious yellow metal to 10%. This will provide much-needed relief to Indias CAD, reducing it by $10-12 billion! A divine solution?

Now that we understand the problem a bit better, whats the solution? In the words of our Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, We must think out-of-the-box. And one such out-of-the-box idea proposed by market expert, Jamal Mecklai is for our Finance Minister and RBI governor to join hands (no pun intended) and go to Tirupati. Per media reports, the Tirupati Temple Trust Foundation (TTTF) has over 1000 tons of gold (although most folks peg this number to be closer to 2000), which constitutes about 5% of all gold in India (30,000-35,000 tons). If we multiply Indias current gold reserves including that held by the TTTF, with the current value of a ton of gold i.e. $48.5 million, we get an amount somewhere to the tune of $1.6 trillion which would wipe away our CAD instantaneously. However, no government will ever sell all its gold reserves. With that in mind, Mecklai proposed a solution wherein the FM and RBI governor could offer the Tirupati trustees a yearly interest rate of 2% (3,000 crores) on 500 tons of gold in addition to providing a safe place (State Bank of India) to store the gold. With a 33.33% ownership of the gold, the SBI could sell the remaining gold in the market which would reduce gold imports and in turn bring down our CAD. More importantly however, such a step would send a positive signal to the market and strengthen the rupee to below 60 to the dollar. Such would be the impact of one temple trust! Whos the richest of them all? Compiled below is a list of the 5 richest temples in India and their assets. It forces one to think about whether a portion of this wealth (and this includes not just offerings of gold but even items like milk and water) could indeed be used to benefit the nation as a whole or put to better use given that most of them engage in charitable activities independently. Temple Name Padmanabhaswamy (Kerala) Assets Indias richest temple is home to treasures worth Rs. 1.2 lakh crore and counting. Some of these include a 3 ft. gold idol of Mahavishnu studded with rubies and emeralds, gold coconut shells, a sack full of diamonds, and numerous gold coins dating back to the early 16th century. The temple and its assets are controlled by a trust run by the Royal family of Travancore. Dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara, a form of Lord Vishnu, the Tirupathi Balaji temple has an annual income of Rs. 650 crore. The temple trust alone receives 350 kg of gold, 500 kg of silver, and Rs. 300 crore in donations every year!

Tirumala Tirupathi Venkateshwara (Andhra Pradesh)

Shirdi Saibaba (Maharashtra)

The richest temple in Maharashtra received over Rs. 1000 crore in cash from its devotees between 2008-2012. The annual revenue of the trust (Shri Sai Sansthan Shirdi) is Rs. 450 crore. Although this temple is 4th when evaluated for its riches, it is the second most visited temple in India after Tirupathi Balaji. With a daily income of Rs. 40 crore, the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board manages the temple. How often have we seen celebrities offer their respects to Lord Ganesha at this shrine? Situated in the heart of Mumbai, the secondrichest temple in Maharashtra receives Rs. 10-15 crore in donations every year and as of 2009, had assets valued at Rs. 140 crore.

Vaishno Devi (Jammu & Kashmir)

Siddhivinayak Mandir (Maharashtra)

All is not lost

In an attempt to counter some of the overindulgent behavior practiced in places of worship, an astrologer cum social activist by the name of Pandit Purushotam Gaur has developed water-harvesting infrastructure in approximately 300 temples in Jaipur to recharge the depleting groundwater levels of the city. This was after it was calculated that over 45 million litres of water gets wasted in the more than 3000 temples in the city during the holy month of Shravan!!

Bottom line
Offer me 1kg of gold and 5 litres of milk, said no God ever. While the idea of giving is noble, it is the practice of excess that needs to be reflected upon. How do we justify excesses in a nation wherein obtaining 2 square meals a day is still a privilege for some? Time for some self-introspection perhaps. Until then, Mr. Chidambaram and Mr. Rajan, may the Gods be with you.