The Union home ministry has allowed the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to receive funds from abroad for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, people familiar with the development said on Wednesday.

The Trust has been granted the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010, to accept “voluntary contribution” by the foreigners’ division of the ministry of home affairs (MHA), said the people mentioned above.

Taking to micro-blogging site X the trust said, “FCRA section of The Ministry of Home Affairs (Govt of India) has registered the trust ‘Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra’ to accept the voluntary contribution from the foreign sources.”

It added: “Such contributions can be sent to only designated bank account. No such contribution shall be accepted in any branch or any other bank account of the trust”.

Non-government organisations or trusts receiving foreign funds can only open their FCRA account at the State Bank of India, Sansad Marg branch, according to the rules.

The Trust, overseeing the work of construction of the temple, had applied for an FCRA licence in June this year.

Constituted in 2020, Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra has been collecting funds through contributions from pilgrims and individuals from across the country but has not been able to get funds from Indians settled abroad so far.

Union home minister Amit Shah had said in January that the Ram Temple in Ayodhya would be ready on January 1, 2024. The foundation stone of the temple was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5, 2020.

The grand opening of the Ram temple is proposed between January 21 and January 24 next year, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the chief guest.

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court led by then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi had on November 9, 2019, unanimously delivered its verdict that the land in Ayodhya where Babri Masjid once stood, belongs to Ram Lalla.