New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has Rs 35,250 cash in hand — marginally less than what he had in 2020-2021 — although his overall movable assets increased 13 per cent in 2021-22.
Details of his latest declared assets — uploaded on the PMO website — show their value went up to Rs 2,23,82,504 (or Rs 2.24 crore) in 2021-2022, from Rs 1,97,68,885 (Rs 1.98 crore) in 2020-2021. This increase, the details show, has been mostly in the form of interest on his investments.
According to the ministerial code of conduct, ministers are required to declare their assets, as well as those of their spouses and dependents, every year.
Apart from Modi, details of eight of his cabinet colleagues — including one former — are available on the PMO website. These are Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya M. Scindia, Housing Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, Power Minister R.K. Singh, Minister of Fisheries Parshottam Rupala, Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy, and former Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
In all, there are 30 cabinet ministers and 45 Ministers of State in the Modi government.
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The PM’s investments
The Assets and Liabilities of the Union Council of Ministers for 2021-2022 shows that, as on 31 March 2022, the prime minister doesn’t have any immovable property.
The details show that Modi purchased a property for Rs 1.3 lakh in Gandhinagar in 2002, while he was chief minister of Gujarat, and held it with three other people. However, he no longer owns the property — whose current market value is approximately Rs 1.1 crore — the asset declaration shows that the property has been donated.
When it comes to investment, the PM believes in traditional routes such as fixed deposit (FD), National Savings Certificate, and life insurance policies. He has Rs 2.1 crore in FDs in State Bank of India’s Gandhinagar branch, Rs 9 lakh in National Savings Certificates, and life insurance policies worth Rs 18,93,05.
Among movable assets, the prime minister owns four gold rings, each weighing 45 grams. Their approximate cost has appreciated 16 per cent since 2021, to Rs 17,30,63 from Rs 14,83,31, the details show.
Modi has not made any fresh investments in 2021-2022, according to the uploaded documents.
Other ministers
Out of the seven incumbent cabinet ministers whose latest asset declaration has been uploaded, Scindia, with total declared assets of Rs 35.63 crore and liabilities of Rs 58 lakh, appears to be the richest. His wife Priyadarshini Raje has Rs 14.3 lakh in assets, the document shows.
Rajnath Singh declared assets (movable and immovable) of Rs 5.51 crore in 2021-2022 — an increase of 5.6 per cent from 2020-2021 — while his wife Savitri Singh’s declared assets stand at Rs 64.51 lakh, up from Rs 56 lakh in March 2021.
Dharmendra Pradhan declared assets to the tune of Rs 1.83 crore in March 2022 — up from Rs 1.62 crore in March 2021.
(Edited by Utara Ramaswamy)
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