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The unaccounted wealth held by Indians outside the country till 2010 could be as high as $490 billion, apart from black money parked within the country as ‘investments’ in sectors like real estate, mining, tobacco/gutka, bullion, films, and education, according to studies conducted by three premier institutes - NIPFP, NCAER, and NIFM.
The three think-tanks came out with their own estimates of black money on a reference from the then UPA government. This is the first official acknowledgment of the three government-sponsored studies initiated in 2011 to estimate black money held by Indians in the country and abroad.
The National Institute of Public Policy and Finance (NIPFP) has estimated illicit financial flow out of the country during 1997-2009 in the range of 0.2 percent to 7.4 percent of GDP. The National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), however, estimated unaccounted wealth accumulated outside the country by Indians between $384 billion and $490 billion during 1980-2010. The National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) found the total illicit outflow from India (1990-2008) at Rs 9,41,837 crore ($216.48 billion).
Illicit outflows from India was on average 10 percent of the unaccounted income, it said. “There are no reliable estimates of black money generation or accumulation, neither is there an accurate well accepted methodology for making such estimation,” the standing committee on finance said in its report.
It said these estimates were made merely on “assumptions” as there was no uniformity or consensus on the best methodology or approach to be used for this purpose.
The report of the standing committee on finance in Lok Sabha, tabled on Monday, was first submitted by the panel headed by M Veerappa Moily to the speaker on March 28 before the lower House was dissolved ahead of parliamentary elections.
The panel noted that the findings were preliminary in nature owing to the paucity of time. Only a limited number of stakeholders could be examined by the committee, it said and recommended examination of more witnesses, including non-official witnesses and experts.
By Sowmya Sangam
