New Delhi, May 21 (PTI): Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is likely to table White Paper on black money in Parliament today, providing information about black money stashed abroad.
The Opposition, led by the BJP, has been targeting the government over the issue. The main Opposition charge is that the government is going slow on probe into black money.
"I will try to give all the relevant and possible information," Mr Mukherjee had earlier said during the debate on Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha, while promising to bring the White Paper in the on-going Budget Session.
However, there are also indications that the White Paper may not provide the estimates of the black money stashed overseas as the expert committees appointed by the government to assess the amount of unaccounted money are yet to submit their reports.
"In respect of estimates of black money, three institutions are studying it independently and they will give their reports at the end of an 18-month period, and that period is coming to a close around July or August.
"We have not yet received their reports. I will share that information with you, as soon as I get the reports from those three independent study groups. But the White Paper containing other relevant information will be made available to the members," the minister had said while responding to the issues concerning black money raised by Mr Advani in the Lok Sabha on May 8.
The White Paper, however, is likely to contain the report of an official committee, set up in May 2011, under the chairmanship of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
This was in addition to the independent studies being carried out by National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) and National Institute of Financial Management (NIFM).