BJP's Sambit Patra welcomes G-20 deal on sharing of banking data

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sambit Patra on Monday welcomed the G-20 deal on sharing bank data, and said it will help India battle the scourge of black money.

"Today, when G-20, which controls approximately 85 percent of the world economy, decides that first of all there would be automatic sharing of information vis-a-vis tax evasion, and secondly, there would be information sharing on request basis as well," Patra told ANI here.

"This is a big boost to the will that the Bharatiya Janata Party has shown, because now, if anyone evades tax, we will get the information as to which bank and where it has been stashed. In keeping with our vision, the 45 countries that have become the first adopters, India is also one of them. This is a welcome thing," he added.

Patra further said the BJP is committed to bringing back black money stashed in safe havens abroad.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party is committed to bring back the black money to India, and that's the reason as to why we formed a SIT on the very first day of the formation of government," he said.

Earlier on Sunday, the G-20 Finance Ministers reportedly agreed that they would allow automatic sharing of all bank information with tax authorities at the end of each year starting from 2017.

The agreement will help India and other nations battling the black money scourge, secure information that several countries were earlier denying, citing local secrecy laws.

One of the major decisions of the BJP-led NDA Government after coming to power in May this year was to set up a special investigative team to probe black money.