Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday that the Modi government has confiscated "Rs 1.25 lakh crore" in black money, adding that transparency is a critical component of the current government's good governance model.
Similarly, the minister of railways stated that, in order to maintain transparency, benami properties worth Rs 4,300 crore were attached and the registration of 1.75 lakh firms was annulled.
Vaishnaw said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had "perfected a model of good governance that started in Gujarat". He stated that this is currently being applied at the national level, news agency PTI reported quoting the rail minister.
Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat before becoming prime minister in 2014.
"This model of good governance, basically, keeps the common citizen at the centre of everything, and transparency as its key aspect," said Vaishnaw, who also holds the portfolios of electronics and information technology and communications.
"Look at transparency: about 1.75 lakh corporations were cancelled...Rs 1.25 lakh crore of black money was confiscated, as did Rs 4,300 crore in benami assets," he was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
According to the minister, the Modi government used digital technology to enhance openness, and the UPI system was developed.
"If a rupee comes from Delhi, only 15 paise reaches the ground," he remarked.
In order to maintain transparency, the Modi government opened 45 crore Jan Dhan accounts and distributed Rs 26 lakh crore to beneficiaries, saving Rs 2.2 lakh crore in leakages, according to the minister.
According to Vaishnaw, the government has followed a transparent strategy for allocations, which has resulted in Rs 4.64 lakh crore from spectrum auction allocation and a record 778 metric tonnes of coal production.
There is no official estimate of how much black money has been held in foreign accounts over the last five years; however, the government stated in Parliament during last year's winter session that Rs 2,476 crore was collected as tax and penalty during the one-time three-month compliance window in 2015.
In the one-time three-month compliance window that ended on September 30, 2015, 648 disclosures involving undisclosed foreign assets worth Rs 4,164 crore were made under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, said Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply in Rajya Sabha during last year's winter session.
Bringing back black money stashed abroad was a significant manifesto pledge of the current BJP-led government, which took office in May 2014.
(With Inputs From PTI)