New Delhi:
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said government agencies have detected 17.73 lakh "suspicious transactions" since demonetization and are assessing the quantum of black money.
He also said the Centre has detected "suspicious amount" worth Rs 3.68 lakh crore in 23.22 lakh accounts in various banks.
"The money deposited in banks post-demonetisation and earlier transactions in those accounts...the details submitted by the bank account holders and their earlier tax returns are not matching hence these are suspicious transactions.
The government agencies found 17.73 lakh suspicious transactions due to demonetisation," the Road Transport and Highways Minister told a press conference here.
"We think it is black money", he added. Gadkari said necessary inquiry of account holders is on and a lot of information is expected to come out after the investigation.
"For the first time, something like this has happened. Those people had no option but to deposit their money in banks because of demonetisation," the minister said, adding the Income Tax department is carrying out the investigation.
"This is a huge task and the government agencies are working on it," Gadkari said. Hailing noteban, Gadkari said it not only helped unearth blackmoney, but also kickstarted the beginning of the new economy.
He said the government agencies found that accounts of 28,000 companies out of 2.97 lakh closed companies were accessed after demonetisation.
"(Separately) out of 1,50,000 bank accounts, Rs 10,200 crore were withdrawn after November 2016. We found one company having 2,134 bank accounts. There are many companies which were having more than 100 bank accounts. Now we found the route of the money that came to these companies and where it went because of the decision of the demonetisation," Gadkari said.
Listing various benefits of note ban, Gadkari said the Gross Disposable Income has gone up from 9 per cent to 13.3 per cent. "The business of mutual funds has also gone up 45 per cent. Demonetisation has helped in industrial and infrastructural growth. Post-November 2016, the demand for personal insurance and first year premium has gone up by 46%," he said.
