Now, donate listed stocks to Mumbai's Siddhivinayak Temple

Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust that manages Mumbai's Siddhivinayak temple has opened CDSL account with SBICAP Securities that will accept demat shares of listed entities as donation from devotees.

"Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust (Prabhadevi) Mumbai has opened a CDSL Demat account with SBICAP Securities Limited to accept donations in the form of shares and securities from Devotees. Details of eligible shares and securities shall be displayed very soon on the Trust's website," said release from CDSL India.

As per the latest data available on the temple's website, Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust had received donations in kind totalling Rs 1,49,73,247 (as per valuation) as on March 31, 2015, of which gold articles amounted to Rs 1,19,69,865; silver articles amounted to Rs 29,41,382 and donation from moveable items amounted to Rs 62,000 during 2014-15.

Last year, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) too had opened a CDSL demat account to accept donations in the form of shares and securities which is reportedly receiving encouraging response from devotees.

According to reports, the temple - one of the richest in the world - has already deposited 1,311 kilograms (kg) gold with Punjab National Bank (PNB) under the Gold Monetisation Scheme. TTD management is also negotiating with public sector banks (PSBs) for better terms before making more such deposits, reports suggest.