Unaccounted money stashed outside India estimated at $216-490 bn

The standing committee on finance has revealed that various studies and estimates have pegged black money circulation in India anywhere between 7% and 120% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009-10 and 2010-11.

It further highlighted the lack of a reliable estimation of unaccounted income and wealth.

Provided that the GDP stood at Rs 64.5 trillion in FY10 and Rs 76.7 trillion in FY11 (in old series), black money could amount to Rs 4.5-77.4 trillion in FY10 and Rs 5.3-92.08 trillion in the following year.

National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP), the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), and the National Institute of Finance Management (NIFM) had given these estimation. The previous UPA government had commissioned studies by these institutions.

The report also quoted these studies, estimating that the black money stashed away by Indians abroad was in the range of $216.48 billion to $490 billion between 1980 and 2010.

Apart from that, the committee, chaired by former law minister Veerappa Moily, pressed for the earliest introduction of the direct taxes code (DTC) in order to simplify and rationalise direct tax laws in the country.