Benami, black money on their mind, Indians ask Google: How to turn black into white

 Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi scrapped the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, ‘How to convert black money into white money’ has been trending on Google, with many Indians turning to the search engine giant for an answer.
 
The search peaked on November 11, three days after Modi demonetised the higher currency notes to fight tax evasion, corruption and financing of terrorism.
 
Gujarat topped the list of states that googled how to convert black into white. This is not surprising, given that demonetisation has brought payments in Surat’s diamond industry to a grinding halt.
 

Surat is not only a diamond manufacturing hub in India, but it also accounts for 95% of all diamonds processed in the world. Many diamantaires of Surat, who run their businesses on a ‘culture of trust’ make payments in cash, operating on a 'chitthi' (paper note) system. The income-tax officials are believed to have cracked the secret code prevalent in the diamond industry to hide the amount of black money invested in various projects, or otherwise.

 
Second on the list is Jharkhand, which is followed by Haryana, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Punjab.


 
The search interest for the term ‘black money’ has been the highest in Mizoram, which is followed by Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur and Goa. The search trend shows that the smaller states of the country are more curious to know about the decision taken by the government on the issue of black money.
 
And, a day after the PM announced that benami properties would be the next target for the the government, one of the most frequently asked questions on Google in the past 12 hours has been ‘what is benami property’, with New Delhi topping the list for this search string.

 
Modi had on Sunday said bureaucrats in Delhi had benami flats in Goa. He also said that his government had passed a law that enabled it to crack down on such properties. 
 
Earlier, in its monsoon session, Parliament had passed the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016. This amended law prescribes a seven-year rigorous imprisonment for those dealing in black money in the real estate sector, besides confiscation of benami properties.