99 per cent of new ministers crorepatis, average wealth Rs 108 crore: ADR

Seventy out of 71 or 99 per cent of the ministers in the new council of ministers are crorepatis with average assets among them amounting to Rs 107.94 crores, according to poll rights body ADR.

Among the ministers, six stand out for their particularly high asset declarations, each exceeding Rs 100 crores, the Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) said.

Dr Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani, Minister of State in the Ministry of Rural Development and Minister of State in the Ministry of Communications tops the list with a staggering total asset declaration of Rs 5705.47 crore. His assets include Rs 5598.65 crore in movable assets and Rs 106.82 crore in immovable assets.

Minister of Communications and Minister of Development of North Eastern Region Jyotiraditya M. Scindia has declared total assets worth Rs 424.75 crore. His portfolio comprises Rs 62.57 crore in movable assets and Rs 362.17 crore in immovable assets.

Minister of Heavy Industries and Minister of Steel H D Kumaraswamy from the Janata Dal (Secular) has total assets valued at R. 217.23 crore. His assets include Rs 102.24 crore in movable assets and Rs 115.00 crore in immovable assets.

Minister of Railways, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw has declared assets totaling Rs 144.12 crore, which include Rs. 142.40 crore in movable assets and Rs 1.72 crores in immovable assets.

Rao Inderjit Singh, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Planning and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture, has total assets amounting to Rs 121.54 crore. His assets comprise Rs 39.31 crore in movable assets and Rs 82.23 crore in immovable assets.

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal, another BJP minister from Mumbai North in Maharashtra, has declared assets worth Rs 110.95 crores. This includes Rs 89.87 crore in movable assets and Rs 21.09 crore in immovable assets.

About 99 per cent of the new ministers are crorepatis. Out of the 71 ministers analysed, an overwhelming 70 have declared assets in the crorepati range, highlighting a significant concentration of wealth among the country's political leadership.

The report, which provides a detailed financial overview of these ministers, indicates that their average assets amount to Rs 107.94 crore.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his 71 ministers, took oath on Sunday as the new coalition government was formed after two full tenures in which the BJP enjoyed a majority on its own.