Banks Recover Rs 13,100 Crore From Assets Sale of Defaulters Like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi: FM Sitharaman
On Monday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the banks have recovered Rs 13,109.17 crore from the asset sale of fugitives like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya. She said this while talking at a discussion on the second batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants that was approved by the Lok Sabha amid Opposition against this and other various issues.
The Supplementary Demands for Grants authorised the government to spend extra Rs 3.73 lakh crore this fiscal year. It will include Rs 62,000 crore in residential assets and liabilities of Air India, Rs 58,430 crore in fertiliser subsidy, Rs 53,123 crore towards payment of pending incentive for exports and Rs 22,039 crore to rural development by transferring it to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Fund.
Talking about the recovered money from the defaulters, she said that a total of Rs 13,109.17 crore has been recovered from the asset sales as of July 2021. The information is given by the ED (Enforcement Directorate).
The Finance Minister also added that Rs 792 crore was recovered from the sale of assets of Viya Mallya and others on July 16, 2021.
She mentioned various issues in the press briefing that the government is working on:
On price rise
Replying to issues of price rise of essential commodities like edible oil raised by the Opposition, she said, “We are taking measures through the EGOM (Empowered Group of Ministers) for taking care of essential goods. We will attend to the problem of edible oil price and also some of the essential edible items,” she said.
On public sector banks
She ensured that the money in the public sector banks is safe. The government has successfully recovered the money from the defaulters, she added.
“Public sector banks together have affected the recovery of about Rs 5.49 lakh crore over the last seven financial years. So, these people who are defaulters, who have fled the country, we have got their money back and put it to the public sector banks and therefore the banks are safer today,” she said.
The department of Food and Public Distribution is given an additional Rs 49,805 crore to meet various expenditure costs for different schemes of food storage and maintenance of warehouses.
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