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The Project

Maitreya Project Structure and Financial Summaries

Introduction

We are pleased to provide below, an explanation of how the Project operates, how much funding has been received and how it has been spent since the beginning of Project records in 1990 to the end of December 2006.

To design and build the 500ft (152m) Maitreya Buddha statue as a public building that is designed to last 1,000 years is a hugely complex task. Expertise and support from many fields has been sought from around the world. Because of the international nature of the Project, Maitreya Project has established a number of entities in different parts of the world, each serving a specific purpose.

The major entities forming a part of the Maitreya Project effort are either trusts, charities, or other non-profit entities. In other words, no individual, or group of people “own” any part of the Project.

Maitreya Project took extensive legal advice in order to find a structure which would enable the proposed activities in India to be conducted under the auspices of suitable Indian spiritual entities while permitting a structure outside India to promote, fund, and project manage the design and planning of the Project. Within India it is a requirement that the Boards of Trustees or Governing Bodies of non-profit entities holding land are Indian nationals who are resident in India. Entities outside India are governed according to the requirements of the jurisdiction in which they operate.

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Maitreya Project Entities in India

Maitreya Project Trust

The eventual "Trustee Owner and Operator" of the Project proposed for Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh is registered as a Socio-Spiritual Trust in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh India.

Trustees: Ven Lama Chosphel Zotpa, Ven Kabir Saxena, Sri Ranjit Singh Walia, Mrs Chhaya Chaudhry, Sri Sonam Wangchuk
Auditors: Walker Chandiok Grant Thornton, New Delhi
Company Secretary: Khaitan & Co, New Delhi
Bankers: HSBC

Maitreya Project Society

The "owner and operator" of the Maitreya Project site in Bodhgaya, Bihar, India is registered in Patna, Bihar, as a Spiritual Society.

Governing Board: Dr. Renuka Singh, Sri Kabir Saxena, Sri Ranji Bhandari, Dr Sanjeev Chaudhry, Mrs Chhaya Chaudhry, Mrs Bhavana Sharma, Sri Ranjit Singh Walia
Auditors: Walker Chandiok Grant Thornton, New Delhi
Company Secretary: Khaitan and Co, New Delhi
Bankers: Bank of America

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Maitreya Project Entities Outside of India

Major funding and the expertise to design and execute the Project to date have been sourced from India and around the world. Consequently of necessity, a number of entities have been incorporated in jurisdictions outside India.

Maitreya Project International, Isle of Man  

Until land is finalised and construction complete Maitreya Project International (MPI) will play a lead role in planning and project management. Once the Project in India is complete MPI’s function as well as that of the support entities will essentially be complete and all operational management of the completed Project is planned to shift entirely to Maitreya Project Trust, in India. 

Research and advice primarily from Grant Thornton Byrne, Hong Kong, as well as from other lawyers, accountants and professionals resulted in the coordinating entity for the Project being incorporated as Maitreya Project International in the Isle of Man – a Dependency of the British Crown with a high degree of internal autonomy, being responsible for its own internal legislation and tax matters. Isle of Man laws follow UK law and the financial environment is extremely well regulated. The Isle of Man takes a particularly enlightened and supportive view towards international philanthropic activities.

MPI in the Isle of Man is a ‘company limited by guarantee’ (ie, no equity or shareholders). The purpose of this company is to coordinate fundraising worldwide, as well as the project management of the necessary research, design, planning, and eventually, the construction of the Maitreya Project statue, social programmes and facilities proposed for Kushinagar and Bodhgaya.

Directors: Prof. C Cain, Ven R Kunsang, Peter Kedge
Auditors: Jack CY Yim & Co, CPA Hong Kong
Bankers: HSBC

Other incorporated or registered Maitreya Project entities  

Entities which form part of the network that contributes to the fulfillment of the Project through regional promotion and support:

Each of the above entities is controlled by its own Board or Governing Body, and maintains files and accounts according to local legal requirements of the country in which it is registered.  

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MPI Coordination Team

Peter Kedge Director & CEO
director@maitreyaproject.org
Tony Simmons Executive Director Maitreya Project Trust
Executive Director Maitreya Project Society
Art Programme Director
Webmaster
india@maitreyaproject.org
Victoria Ewart Relic Tour Director
relictour@maitreyaproject.org
Linda Gatter Media Manager
info@maitreyaproject.org
Atul Chopra Liaison Officer
kushinagar@maitreyaproject.org

At times the team of professionals working on planning and design has included more than 20 companies and 100 architects and engineers, but for the last approximately 4 years, since the decision to re-locate the Project to Uttar Pradesh, and until land negotiations in Uttar Pradesh are concluded, our team has comprised a skeleton staff with everyone multi-tasking. In addition, there are many volunteers who assist and work with enormous dedication fulfilling essential tasks that too often go unmentioned.

Each team member works extremely hard and each strives their utmost to bring Maitreya Project’s extraordinary vision to a perfect conclusion. For the most part team members work from home offices or on the road, as necessary. This will change when land issues are resolved and the Project is able to re-mobilise towards construction in both Kushinagar and Bodhgaya once more.

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Use of Funds Raised

Funds received through donation over the last 16 years since the Project began in 1990 (almost US$13m – please see Financial Summaries) have all been used exclusively in the purchase of land and buildings, research and development, architectural and engineering design, and the progression and administration of the Maitreya Project vision for Bodhgaya, Bihar, and Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, both in northern India.

Major support for taking the Project forward in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, India has been committed. It will become available when details of the proposed new land site in Kushinagar have been finalised, and all necessary permissions and approvals from the State and Central Governments in India are firmly in place.

Funding and technical design and building support for the development of the existing 30 acre land site in Bodhgaya, including a 170ft (52m) Maitreya statue on that site, has been committed. It will become available upon finalisation of a lease for an additional 9 acres currently under negotiation with the State Government of Bihar.

Design and Engineering

The two major phases of engineering feasibility and design undertaken over a period of almost two years – the Concept Design and Scheme Design phases – cost more than US$8m. Significant cost concessions were given to the Project by the major international firms constituting the engineering team such that the result of this development work was extraordinarily economical. The work done at that time remains essential to the Project and, apart from site-specific studies that will be undertaken on the basis of the final land site in Uttar Pradesh, are fully applicable to the construction of the statue and other facilities in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

Education Programme

Funds are raised specifically for Maitreya Project Universal Education School but, when needed, a relatively small portion of Maitreya Project’s general funds is used to support the Maitreya Project Universal Education School and the recently initiated Maitreya Project Buddhist School, both in Bodhgaya, Bihar, India. The Maitreya Universal Education School is highly successful and currently offers free education, uniforms, learning materials and meals to around 500 pupils in Bodhgaya and is growing every year.

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Zero-Tolerance Corruption Policy

Maitreya Project entities in India and worldwide, as well as the State Government of Uttar Pradesh, have agreed in writing that each party has a zero-tolerance policy towards fraud and corruption, including the practice of soliciting, taking, or offering an advantage.

It is very easy for people to cynically assume, and even infer in on-line blogs and articles, that Maitreya Project may have engaged in corruption or is turning a blind eye to corrupt activities on the part of the governments in India. This is a seriously irresponsible speculation without any foundation whatsoever.

Maitreya Project has not paid, and will not pay, one penny to anyone anywhere in the form of an advantage. This policy was made abundantly clear at the outset of dealings with all levels of government, contractors, consultants and all others. At the very outset of discussions, it was agreed that if and whenever a situation might arise where any Maitreya Project entity in India, their suppliers, contractors, personnel, or any government department, officer, personnel, or others related to the execution of the Maitreya Project, approach or are approached in relation to an advantage, the matter will be immediately referred to the Government’s State Level Task Force and dealt with at first instance.

Similarly, the same applies to any such occurrence that may happen outside of India. The matter will immediately be referred to the appropriate legal authorities.

The definitions of fraud and corruption laid down by the laws of India and the definitions and procedures set out in World Bank contracts are rigorously followed in this regard.

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Financial Summaries

Our financial summaries are currently being updated. Please check back at a later date.

Schematic Network Structure & Funds Flow

Schematic Network Structure & Funds Flow
With many thanks for your kind interest in the Project and also for your trust and patience with the rate of progress which is slow (for the reasons explained in Maitreya Project’s Updates) but it is always progress and it is a huge, complex project.

Peter Kedge
CEO
Maitreya Project International

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