The Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) Department will write to the Centre seeking waiver from payment of Goods and Services Tax (GST) for grants provided to temples in Adi Dravidar habitations and those that are classified as village temples.
HR&CE Minister P.K. Sekarbabu said a one-time grant of ₹2 lakh is given per temple for renovations, of which 18% goes towards GST.
“This amounts to ₹35,000, which would help the temples if given to them. They can use these funds to make improvements such as building a kitchen, the main mandapam or a compound wall or even take up repair works...,” he said.
Official sources in the Department said many requests had come from temples on waiving the GST amount. “One percent [of the grant] is also deducted towards labour welfare fund. Usually, residents too contribute towards these expenses. They make a collection. The amount the government gives is sort of an encouragement,” the Minister said.
The sum of ₹2 lakh per temple is provided under two separate schemes. The temples in Adi Dravida localities are not under the purview of the department and the amount is given based on requests from the residents. As for “village temples”, they are under the purview of the department, an official source said.
In 2021-22 and 2022-23, 5,000 temples had benefited from the scheme. For 2023-24, 2,500 temples have been finalised.
The scheme for village temples began with a grant of ₹10,000 and sometime later, the scheme for (temples in) Adi Dravida habitations was introduced. The amount was later increased to ₹25,000, ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh. The DMK hiked it to ₹2 lakh after coming to power in 2021.
