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Journalism of Courage
The investigation department of the ministry of finance has unearthed black money to the tune of over Rs 4,500 crore during the last financial year,with the quantum of such unaccounted money highest in the real estate sector at around Rs 2,000 crore.
This was followed by the manufacturing sector,which saw a growth of 215.15 per cent in black money during 2008-09,a source from the intelligence department of the ministry told The Indian Express.
The source said the investigation directorate,which constantly keeps track of the growth of black money in different sectors and accordingly shifts its focus,conducted the highest number of search operations 123 in the real estate sector. It also conducted searches in sectors like manufacturing (79),jewellery (33),professional,financial,and education.
There has been a growth of 80 per cent in the number of searches carried out in the education sector,the source said.
The department found black money to the tune of Rs 1,026.61 crore in the manufacturing sector compared to Rs 325.75 per cent in 2007-08 while it discovered Rs 301 crore in the jewellery and bullion sector compared to Rs 66.56 crore in 2007-08.
The rate of growth in the admission of undisclosed income is highest in the jewellery sector (352.22 per cent), the source said. In the region-wise analysis,the department found the highest amount of admission of black money in the financial capital of the country,Mumbai,at Rs 840.37 crore. This was followed by New Delhi at Rs 705.58 crore and the Kolkata region at Rs 633.36 crore.
Among the non-metro regions,Chandigarh topped the list with Rs 386.93 crore while searches in Bhopal resulted in unaccounted Rs 234.76 crore and in Lucknow Rs 215.13 crore. In the 429 search operations carried out,the department was able to seize cash worth Rs 399.70 crore and assets worth Rs 625.50 crore. There has been a rise of 93 per cent in cash seizure in 2008-09 compared to the last year,the source said.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance had also raised the issue of black money circulating in the economy to which the ministry had said that a report has been prepared on sectors where there is huge unaccounted money involved and that the report has been sent to the director general,income tax,investigation.
