War on graft successful: Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asserted that the government’s fight against black money was yielding results.

Modi said about Rs 3 lakh crore previously untaxed money was in the banking system and more people were filing Income Tax returns.

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Modi said demonetisation has brought more than 18 lakh people under the income tax scanner, black money worth Rs 2 lakh crore was forced into the banking system and Rs 1.75 lakh crore deposited in banks was under scrutiny.

“Around 4.5 lakh people have now come forward and are trying to trade the right path after accepting their mistakes. One lakh people, who had neither heard of Income Tax nor paid Income Tax, have now been forced to do so,” the prime minister said.

However, Modi made no mention of the actual number of banned currency notes deposited with banks, which has been a bone of contention with the Opposition.

Modi said the number of new taxpayers filing I-T returns had more than doubled this year. He said 56 lakh people had filed I-T returns between April 1 and August 5, against the 22 lakh I-T returns filed during the same period last year.

The prime minister said post-demonetisation, a data mining exercise conducted by the government revealed an astonishing 3 lakh “shell” companies that were used for money laundering purposes.

“We have cancelled the registration of 1.75 lakh shell companies...the looters of the nation’s wealth will have to answer,” he said.

“I have waged a big war against corruption and black money. We are fighting corruption for the bright future of India and the well-being of our people,” the prime minister said. Modi said post-demonetisation, banks have enough liquidity to reduce interest rates and give loans to the common man to fulfil his dreams. He said 8 crore youth have been given loans by the banks for self-employment.

Modi said the implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been smooth.

Removal of check posts after implementation of GST has cut time for transporting goods by 30%, the prime minister added.