Former Telecom Minister A Raja’s investment in shares and fixed deposits have increased by nearly 170 per cent from Rs 8.52 lakh to a little over Rs 23 lakh during one year, annual property returns of the Ministers provided by Prime Minister’s Office in an RTI reply show.
In the year 2008-09, the minister has invested Rs 8.52 lakh in shares while his wife had an investment of Rs 3.04 lakh in the shares but in the year ending March 31, 2010, Raja’s investments in shares increased to a little over Rs 23 lakh.
Surprisingly, Raja’s total asset value is pegged at Rs 1.95 crore (Rs 19.5 million), which makes him poorer than Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who has assets worth Rs 4.86 crore (Rs 48.6 million).
His spouse’s investment has also increased by Rs 6 lakh, the property returns filed by the Minister show.
The details came through the reply to an RTI application filed by S C Agrawal seeking to know the latest asset details of the Ministers of the Union Cabinet.
Raja, who resigned following the controversy surrounding alleged corruption in the allotment of telecom spectrum, invested in 19 companies including public sector undertakings, airlines, software companies among others.
Mamata Banerjee gets richer
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee who had declared assets worth Rs 6.7 lakh last year has shown an increase of nearly 40 per cent with declared properties and cash touching little over Rs 10 lakh this year.
Antony‘s account has only Rs 84,000!
Defence Minister A K Antony’s movable property showed a marginal dip this year.
Antony had declared Rs 1.8 lakh in his two bank accounts but this year his account had a little over Rs 84,000 only.
Jyotiraditya Scindia’s wealth rises
One of the richest members of Union Council of Ministers, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Minister of state for Commerce and Industry has also shown a marginal increase in his assets from Rs 22.7 crore (Rs 227 million) in 2009 to Rs 24 crore (Rs 240 million) this year, the reply showed.
Pranab Mukherjee’s wealth at Rs 1.10 cr
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s movable and immovable properties have shown a marginal increase from Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million) during fiscal ending 2009 to Rs 1.10 crore (Rs 11 million) during 2010.
Although his three out of four properties have not shown any increment in their value, his ancestral property has shown an increase of about Rs 16,000.
Chidambaram’s assets at Rs 10.4 cr
Home Minister P Chidambaram’s declaration also showed a similar trend with his assets growing marginally from Rs 10.3 crore (Rs 103 million) to Rs 10.4 crore (Rs 104 million) this year. The Minister also took advance of Rs 3.5 lakh, the RTI reply shows.
Anand Sharma’s assets at Rs 3.4 cr
Commerce and Industries Minister Anand Sharma’s assets increased by nearly 29 per cent from Rs 2.6 crore (Rs 26 million) in 2009 to Rs 3.4 crore (Rs 34 million) in fiscal ending March 31, 2010.
