NEW DELHI: Amid a rise in Swiss bank deposits by Indians, the government on Friday indicated that the liberalised remittance scheme introduced by former Finance Minister P Chidambaram could have been a trigger for the surge, and said strong action would be taken in case of any wrongdoing.
Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said the government would start getting details about bank accounts of Indians in Switzerland from next year under a bilateral tax treaty.
Money parked by Indians in Swiss banks rose over 50 per cent to CHF 1.01 billion (Rs 7,000 crore) in 2017, reversing a three-year downward trend amid India's clampdown on suspected black money stashed there.
Replying to queries about the rise in Indians' deposits in Swiss banks, Goyal said, "the data that you alluded to will come to us, so how are you assuming that this is black money or this is illegal transaction".
Citing media reports, the minister said that 40 per cent of the money is because of liberalised remittance scheme which was introduced by Chidambaram. As per the liberalised LRS, an individual could remit up to USD 2,50,000 per year, he added.
"We will have all information if someone is found guilty, (and) the government will take strong action against them," Goyal said.
The government has been taking various measures, including shuttering of shell companies, to curb illicit fund flows in the system.
Union minister Arun Jaitley on Friday slammed the "misinformed reaction" by opposition parties to the news report of an increase in money held by 'Indians' in the Swiss banking system. Jaitley slammed those who have cited the increased Swiss bank deposits to question if government's anti-black money steps have yielded results.
"To assume that all the deposits are per se tax evaded money or that Switzerland in the matter of illegal deposits is what it was decades ago is to start on a shaky presumption," Jaitley wrote in his latest Facebook post.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday took a swipe at Narendra Modi over the rise in Indian money in Swiss banks, alleging that the prime minister says a 50-per cent jump in deposits by Indians is "white money" and that there is no "black money".
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday slammed the Centre over the increase in flight of money to Swiss bank and blamed this to demonetisation.
"Bravo! #DeMonetisation? Swiss Bank money flying. India losing," Banerjee wrote on her Twitter handle Friday evening.