Study on black money to take 18 months: Govt

NEW DELHI: The three institutes selected by the government to conduct study on black money stashed by Indians within and outside the country, will be given a time frame of 18 months, Parliament was informed today.

"The study will be conducted by three national institutes with inputs from various ministries and departments...The institutes will be given a time frame of 18 months to complete the study," Minister of State for Finance S S Palanimanickam said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

The government has decided to get a fresh study conducted on unaccounted income and wealth, both inside and outside the country, unravelling the nature of activities engendering money laundering and its ramifications on national security, he added.

"The proposal was approved by the Government in January, 2011...the study will be assigned to them after making necessary provisions," Palanimanickam added.

Yesterday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee while presenting the Budget, had expressed "serious concern" over the generation and circulation of black money and said that the Government has adopted a five-fold strategy to deal with the menace.