30 May,2011 08:23 AM IST | | Agencies
The Centre has commissioned a study to examine how black money is generated and to recommend ways of bringing it back into the mainstream economy.
A statement from the finance ministry said the study was authorised in March and will be completed by September 2012.
Lost fortune?: An estimated $462 bn of Indian black money is stashed
abroad. Representation pic
The study is being conducted by three autonomous institutions under the finance ministry ufffd National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,u00a0National Institute of Financial Management, and the National Council of Applied Economic Research.
There have been wide-ranging estimates of the amount of Indian black money stashed abroad ufffd from $500 billion to $1,400 billion.
A recent study by Global Financial Integrity has estimated the outflow of illicit money at $462 billion.
The study will assess unaccounted income and wealth both inside and outside the country. It will also profile activities, identify sectors and examine methods which encourage generation of unaccounted and black money, and ways by which they are converted into 'white' money.
The study will recommend methods on how to bring back black money stashed in banks outside India and estimate the quantum of tax evasion by companies.
The clamour for taking action against the corrupt and to recover funds hidden in tax havens abroad has been getting stronger since Anna Hazare's anti-graft movement. The Supreme Court, too, has been increasingly critical of the way the UPA government has been dealing with the issue of investigating illegally-acquired wealth and convicting people found responsible for money laundering.
On Saturday, the government announced the formation of a committee chaired by the Central Board of Direct Taxes chief to suggest ways of strengthening anti-money laundering laws and recovering black money parked in overseas banks.
