Mumbai’s favourite deity Lord Ganesha has followed the example of Lord Balaji and now has a demat account. A demat (or dematerialised, which is what virtual share and security certificates are called now) account is a must for any entity interested in buying or selling shares of listed companies.
“We used to get some physical shares as donation in the hundi [donation box] and we had to get those converted into demat form and then sell,” says Narendra Rane, Chairman, Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple Trust. “Now, with our own demat account, any person from anywhere in India can transfer the shares to the trust and we will sell and convert it into cash.”
The temple trust’s demat account is with SBICAP Securities; it already has a bank account for online cash donations, also with the State Bank of India. Initially, devotees will be able to donate shares of listed entities; soon they will also be able to give mutual fund units, bonds, and gold exchange traded fund units too. “It makes the whole [donation] process very seamless,” Mr. Rane said. “We get the shares in our account, we sell it and the cash is credited in our SBI bank account. Our rules do not allow any sort of trading in the stock market.”
The Siddhivinayak trust is following the example of another hugely popular temple, the Balaji temple in Tirupati.
Pilgrims visiting that temple would frequently leave offerings of share certificates in the hundi , and the temple had a tough time getting those transferred in the trust’s name before selling them. Then, last year in August, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the world’s richest shrine, opened a demat account with the Stock Holding Corporation of India.
Mani Palvesan, Managing Director, SBICAP Securities, says that the company discussed the idea with the Siddhivinayak trust for almost a year before finally convincing them to open a demat account. “The Tirupati temple opened a demat account last year,” he said, “and since then we thought Mumbai’s Siddhivinayak Temple should also open such an account. It took us a year to convince them.”
