Sunday 6 July 2014

A dark, bustling business: How India's black money racket runs

Gaurav Choudhury, Hindustan Times  New Delhi, June 30, 2014


First Published: 14:39 IST(30/6/2014) | Last Updated: 19:42 IST(30/6/2014)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is moving fast to repatriate hundreds of billions of dollars in slush funds or black money stashed abroad, as part of a wider clampdown on corruption that he promised during his election campaign.

The Indian government has written to Switzerland seeking details of Indians who have stashed away unaccounted money in the country. (Photo representative/Thinkstock)
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The government is building pressure particularly on Switzerland, seeking details of Indians who have parked unaccounted for money in the Alpine country's highly secretive banks. It has quickly implemented a Supreme Court directive to set up a high-powered special investigation team, headed by retired judge MB Shah, to look into the issue of black money that is said to run a parallel economy in India.

The efforts to rid India of corruption comes at a time when public patience with graft has run thin, underlined by massive street protests across the country three years ago that forced political parties to start addressing the scourge.

Read | Easier said than done: Busting India's black money racket

Hindustan Times presents a lowdown on how deals thrive outside the financial system in a bustling cash economy, hoodwinking authorities by creating a web of transactions to obscure the source of slush funds.


What is black money

Black money arises mainly from incomes not disclosed to the government usually to avoid taxation, and, sometimes, because of its criminal links

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