Indian black money overseas exceeds combined deposits of other nationals: Advani

RAIPUR: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani said here Saturday that Indian black money in overseas banks was more than the combined deposits of other nationals and asked the government to have these amounts repatriated.

"As per my information, an estimated Rs.25 lakh crore of black money is lying in Swiss and other foreign banks, which is more than the combined black money put by nationals of all other countries," the BJP veteran said at a public meeting here.

"I demand from the Prime Minister to bring the money back as early as possible to use it for providing electricity, drinking water, health services and roads in country's six lakh villages," Advani said in the capital of the BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh.

Advani reached here Saturday afternoon by plane as part of his ongoing anti-graft roadshow popularly called the Jan Chetna Yatra.

Meanwhile, some 50 Congress leaders including state president Nandkumar Patel and opposition leader Ravindra Choubey courted arrest after police denied them permission to hand over a memorandum to Advani.

In the memorandum, they alleged corruption scandals, amounting to Rs.20,000 crore, engineered by the BJP government in Chhattisgarh since the party returned to power in December 2003.