Black money study reports yet to be accepted: Finance Ministry

New Delhi: The Finance Ministry is yet to accept two of the three reports submitted to it on the assessment of black money in India and abroad which were commissioned by the UPA government three years ago. The studies were conducted by the Delhi-based National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), and National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM) at Faridabad.

"Report from one institute has been received and accepted and reports from the remaining two institutes have been received but yet to be accepted by the government so far," the Finance Ministry said in reply to an RTI query.

It, however, declined to share the contents of the reports citing the exemption clause under the transparency law. Further details cannot be made available at this point of time as the information is exempt under Section 8(1)(c) and Section 8(1)(e) of RTI Act, 2005, since the report is yet to be examined by the government or action taken thereof is yet to be laid before Parliament," the ministry said.

Section 8(1 )(e) bars disclosure of information which would cause a breach of privilege of Parliament. The other clause exempts disclosure of "information available to a person in his fiduciary relationship, unless the competent authority is satisfied that the larger public interest warrants the disclosure of such information".

The three studies were expected to be completed within 18 months' time, which  deadline had expired on September 21, 2012. The Finance Ministry did not give the dates on which these reports were submitted with it although the RTI application had also sought that information.

There is at present no official assessment on the quantum of black money in India and abroad.

"The issue of black money has attracted a lot of public and media attention in the recent past. So far, there are no reliable estimates of black money generated and held within and outside the country," the Finance Ministry had said while ordering the studies in 2011.

The different estimates on quantum of black money range between USD 500 billion to USD 1,400 billion. A study by Global Financial Integrity has estimated the illicit money outflow to be at USD 462 billion.

"These estimates are based on various unverifiable assumptions and approximations. Government has been seized of the matter and has, therefore, commissioned these institutions to get an estimation and sense of the quantum of illicit fund generated and held within and outside the country," the Ministry had said in a press release issued on May 29, 2011.

According to the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the studies, they were to assess or survey unaccounted income and wealth and profile the nature of activities engendering money laundering both inside and outside the country.

The study was to identify, among others, important sectors of the economy in which unaccounted money is generated and examine the causes and conditions that result in the generation of unaccounted money.