Modi vows to bring back black money stashed abroad

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the menace of black money is an issue that is worrying all sections of society in the country

Kick starting his 'chai pe charcha' nation-wide campaign from Ahmedabad, Modi said: "The whole country is worried about black money. It is not simply an issue of taxation, black money is anti-national activity. I assure my countrymen, that when we form a government in Delhi, we will create a task force, and according to its suggestions, we will make or amend laws to bring every single rupee deposited in foreign countries by Indian citizens which is black money. I'm committed to this because this money belongs to the poor people of India."

Commenting on the issue of taxation, he said it should be like a bee on a flower... extracting what is necessary without damaging the flower.

"A government should levy taxes so that the people paying the taxes aren't harmed, and the money collected is put to good use," the Gujarat Chief Minister said.

During his interaction, he championed the use of alternative sources of energy so as to bring down the country's monumental oil import bill.

Claiming the Gujarat was the first state in India to have a solar energy policy, Modi said: "Most people have come to Gujarat even when we were paying Rs.13 per unit, while the Centre promised Rs.19 a unit. They government has since reduced the prices, but still most people came to us, because there was good governance As conventional sources of energy become more expensive, alternative sources will become more affordable."

"We should also work on generating electricity via urban waste. We have tried putting up solar panels on canals - this saves water from evaporation; it saves land as the panels are set up over water... and since its cooler generation capacity is up by 16 per cent. We should work on wind energy, and we are looking at windmill technology in a big way," he added.