CPM Claim: 36 Indians Absconding, Owe Banks Rs 40,000 Cr. Fact: Partially True
New Delhi: On April 19, 2018, Communist Party of India (Marxist) claimed that prime minister Narendra Modi had failed to fulfil his promise of ending corruption as 36 businessmen who owe the country’s banks Rs 40,000 crore were absconding.
Modiji, were you ever serious about that Pradhan Chowkidar Job?#No2Modinomics
— CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) April 19, 2018
Yes to the #LeftAlternative of the #CPIM22PartyCongress! pic.twitter.com/dPGVoJWd3Y
We checked the claim and found it to be partially true.
Claim: 36 businessmen have fled the country without re-paying Rs 40,000 crore loans.
Fact: Partially true. As many as 31 defaulters were listed as absconding by M.J. Akbar, minister of state in the foreign ministry, in this reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) on March 14, 2018.
Only 15 of the 31 named by the government owe Indian banks Rs 38,794 crore while information about others is not available, Mint reported on April 9, 2018.
There are at least 91 more debtors whom the government is considering barring from travelling abroad, Mint reported on March 15, 2018.
(Vivek is an analyst with IndiaSpend and FactChecker.)
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