 "Arun Jaitley")
The value of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s personal financial assets declined by 8.9 per cent in financial year 2015-16.
Data posted online by the Union government show Jaitley’s financial assets, movable and immovable, were Rs 60.99 crore, down from Rs 67.01 crore in 2014-15.
The FM, among the wealthiest in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet, is the only one for whom records of assets and liabilities during FY16 have been put in the public domain so far. Modi’s declared financial assets had risen by around Rs 15 lakh in 2014-15 to Rs 1.41 crore, from Rs 1.26 crore the previous year. This includes a Gandhinagar property, currently valued at Rs 1 crore.
While Jaitley’s properties, residential and commercial, were pegged at a similar market valuation for both the years (FY15 and FY16), the fall is mostly in his bank balance, cash in hand and less number of vehicles owned. His balance in four savings accounts (three in HDFC Bank and one in State Bank of India) reduced to around Rs 1 crore in FY16, from Rs 3.52 crore in 2014-15. In both years, the FM held company deposits in Empro Oils and DCM Shriram Consolidated, at Rs 9 crore and Rs 8 crore, respectively. There’s no other investment made by the FM by this record, though in 2013-14, he did have other investments of around Rs 2 crore.
His cash in hand was Rs 65.29 lakh in FY16, down from Rs 95.3 lakh the previous year. His Public Provident Fund investment was valued at Rs 25.69 lakh in the latest data, against Rs 22.18 lakh in FY15. His movable assets include loans and advances he has given out of Rs 9.34 crore, against Rs 9.1 crore in the previous year. He has also given out an advance for properties worth Rs 75.6 lakh, against Rs 75 lakh in the earlier year.
The finance minister owns four vehicles currently — two Mercedes, one Honda Accord and another Toyota Fortuner, priced at a total of Rs 1.93 crore. In the previous year, he had five vehicles, the fifth being a BMW priced at Rs 86 lakh.
The value of 5.6 kg of gold that Jaitley owns is pegged at Rs 1.35 crore, against Rs 1.25 crore for the same amount during FY15. The 15 kg of silver he holds is worth Rs 5.54 lakh, down from Rs 5.67 lakh the previous year. The value of his diamonds has held steady for the past three years at Rs 45 lakh.
The finance minister owns six residential properties jointly with his wife, Sangeeta Jaitley — in Delhi, Gurgaon, Amritsar and Gandhinagar. He also has land and commercial properties across cities.
