India lost 462 bln dollars through tax evasion, crime and corruption since 1948: Report

Washington, Nov 19(ANI): A new report has said that India has lost 462 billion dollars in illegal capital flows between 1948 and 2008.

According to the report from Washington-based group Global Financial Integrity (GFI), the flows are more than twice of India's external debt of 230 billion dollars.

The loss has been caused because of companies and the rich illegally funnelling their wealth overseas, the report said.

The report claims that the illicit outflows of money -through tax evasion, crime and corruption- has increased after economic reforms began in 1991 and has widened inequality in India.

It also said that the "poor state of governance" had been reflected in a growing underground economy in India since Independence in 1947, the BBC reports.

The report also found that India's underground economy has been estimated to account for 50 percent of the country's GDP - 640 billion dollars at the end of 2008.

Meanwhile, GFI Director Raymond Baker said that the report "puts into stark terms the financial cost of tax evasion, corruption, and other illicit financial practices in India".

Global Financial Integrity, a non-profit research and advocacy group, studies and campaigns against cross-border flow of illegal money around the world. (ANI)