Black money: 4.8 lakh crore flown out of India within 8 years
Posted on: 07 Jun 2011
P Basanth
New Delhi: When considering the 2G spectrum case worth Rs 1, 76,000 crore, Supreme Court judge justice GS Sanghvi passed a remark on the number of zeroes involved in the case. He said that he had seen so many zeros only when studying in schools. India has grown from a country where people used to give bribe of Rs 100 or Rs 50 to the village officer to crores for getting a contract.
There are no actual accounts of money being transferred outside the country, where the daily wage of more than 75 % of people is less than Rs 20. As per the accounts of Global Financial Integrity (GFI), from 2000 to 2008, Rs 4.8 lakh crore was flown outside, that means Rs 48,00,00,00,00,000. Time is needed to count all zeroes.
The SC has been pressurizing the central government to get back black money stashed outside the country. The case relating to this has been deferred and the verdict would be announced soon. When the SC meets and takes up the case after summer vacation, the first verdict might be on this. On one side is the central government which is adamant on not disclosing the names of those having accounts in foreign banks while on the other side the SC asking the government on the delay in revealing the names.
The above figures are relating to 8 years only. So during the last 60 years, the money transported from India would be very high. Noted economist Prof R Vaidayanathan said that in the 80s where rupee had a high value when compared to dollar, the money flown out would be more than Rs 71 lakh crore.
Apart from corruption, money out of drug trafficking, tax fraud, smuggling, terrorism and weapons smuggling are also kept in foreign banks.
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange recently revealed that the black money from Indians are more in Swiss banks. There are banks in 70 countries, where black money can be deposited. Apart from Switzerland, the financial base of countries like Linktenstain, Channel Islands; Caiman Islands depend mainly on black money. So it is their need to woo customers.
There are many ways to transport black money to other countries.
(To be continued)
