NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi has hailed the demonetiation move of November 8, 2016, claiming that it has given a boost to transparency.
In a tweet on Sunday, Modi said that the move helped reduce black money, increase tax compliance and formalization and given a boost to transparency, and the outcomes have been beneficial for the country's progress.
In graphics accompanying the tweet, the Prime Minister pointed out that India had turned into a lesser cash-based economy with better tax compliance. He said self-assessment tax of more than Rs 13,000 crore was paid by targeted non-filers and 3.04 lakh persons who deposited cash of Rs 10 lakh or more but had not filed their income tax returns were identified.
He also claimed that the
demonetisation helped improve India's tax/GDP ratio.
PM Modi, in a late evening televised message four years back, announced withdrawal of higher denomination bank notes. All old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes ceased to be legal tenders following the announcement. Long queues were witnessed outside ATMs for several days after that, as people tried to get new bank notes in hand.
Most of the old notes in circulation were deposited with banks.
The move came in for criticism from several quarters, and the opposition claimed it had harmed the economy.
(With agency inputs)