While PM’s assets are over Rs 5 crore, defence minister A K Antony jointly with his wife has just Rs 33.54 lakh worth of property.
Praful Patel, Kapil Sibal, Kamal Nath, P Chidambaram and Virbhadra Singh are among the top crorepati cabinet ministers, going by their asset details uploaded by the government on the worldwide web.
The government has posted the details of assets and liabilities of the ministers as on March 31, 2011, on the website of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had directed all ministers to declare their assets and liabilities and indicate their business interests by August 31.
According to the details submitted, heavy industries minister Patel’s assets, along with his wife’s, is around Rs 114.42 crore. Telecom minister Sibal has disclosed assets worth Rs 37.21 crore, urban development minister Nath has Rs 42.55 crore (assets of 25 companies in which he and his family have interests have not been included), home minister Chidambaram has around Rs 23.49 crore and SME minister Virbhadra Singh, over Rs 22.22 crore.
The details can also be seen directly by going to http://pmindia.nic.in/assets_body_2011.htm. Out of the 77 members of the Council of Ministers, details of assets of five were not available on the website at the time of going to print. They include cabinet minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, ministers of state with independent charge Krishna Tirath and Jayanthi Natarajan, and ministers of state Jitender Singh and S Jagathrakshakan.
The prime minister’s assets exceed Rs 5 crore, including term deposits, two houses and a 1996-make Maruti 800. He has no agricultural or non-agricultural land, has residential house in Chandigarh of current market value at Rs 90 lakh and a flat in Delhi’s posh Vasant Kunj area whose current value is Rs 88.67 lakh. Singh’s wife Gursharan Kaur has over Rs 11 lakh in savings account in State Bank of Patiala, Chandigarh. Singh has term and various bank deposits of around Rs 3.22 crore.
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Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in a two-page record has shown his net asset as on March 31, 2011, at Rs 1.25 crore and that of his wife Suvra Mukherjee at Rs 1.77 crore.
Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar and his wife Pratibha Pawar’s assets and liabilities running into five pages also include their shareholding and deposits in a large number of companies. Defence Minister A K Antony has total assets worth Rs 33.54 lakh jointly owned with his wife. Antony does not own any house or property or even a vehicle and has savings deposits worth only Rs 1.82 lakh.
Chidambaram, along with his wife Nalini Chidambaram, have assets worth Rs 23.49 crore, with Chidambaram alone owning assets around Rs 11.14 crore including fixed deposits and interest thereof worth Rs 1.29 crore.
Among Chidambaram’s immovable assets is included a coffee estate in Kodagu worth Rs 28.95 lakh, besides other assets worth Rs 62.26 lakh which include a Skoda car worth Rs 22.15 lakh, a Volkswagen car worth Rs 16.24 lakh and a Ford Fiesta worth Rs 7.71 lakh.
The home minister has also disclosed that he owns a cycle worth Rs 1,239 and a Kinetic Honda worth Rs 27,685.
His wife, however, owns land and buildings in Managiri, Sukkanenthal village in Tamil Nadu worth Rs 2.66 crore and agricultural land in Muttucaud/Kanathur worth Rs 27.41 lakh and a house in Karaikudi worth Rs 12.68 lakh. She also owns a coffee estate worth Rs 1.18 crore, a house in Sivagangai worth Rs 12 lakh and land in Managiri worth Rs 11.2 lakh. While Chidamabaram himself possesses jewellery worth only Rs 65,955, his wife’s is worth Rs 7.75 lakh.
Minister of Corporate Affairs M Veerappa Moily has submitted an interesting one-page details about his assets and liabilities. He has mentioned Rs 5,000 cash in hand, Rs 928,862.24 cash balance in hand, and Rs 4 lakh fixed deposits as his assets with no movable or immovable property and nil liability.