MKT RALLY SHOWS IN MINISTERS’ PORTFOLIO
The net worth of Home Affairs and Cooperative Minister Amit Shah grew 32 per cent compared to last year to ~37.91 crore, mainly due to 80 per cent rise in the market value of securities held by him, showed the declaration submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s stocks also rose about 95 per cent to ~5.33 crore.
The stellar gains made by the stock markets during the financial year 2020-21 boosted the net worth of some of the top ministers.
The latest declaration submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) revealed that the net worth of Home Affairs and Cooperative Minister Amit Shah grew 32 per cent to ~37.91 crore, mainly due to 80 per cent appreciation in the market value of securities held by him.
As of March 31, Shah declared a total value of securities of ~24.51 crore, which includes ~19.66 crore worth of inherited securities and ~3.78 crore owned securities. In FY 2020, the total value of securities was ~13.5 crore, while it was ~17.9 crore in FY
2019.
“The increase in the value of movable property is on account of appreciation in the price of quoted securities. During the year, no major purchase of securities has taken place in comparison to the previous year,” Shah’s declaration note said.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s stocks also rose about 95 per cent to ~5.33 crore compared to ~2.72 crore last year. His total net worth stood at ~30.26 crore, up from ~27.47 crore a year ago.
Benchmark indices ended fiscal 2020-21 with a gain of 70 per cent, most since 2009-10. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose 91 per cent and 115 per cent, respectively, in FY21. India’s market capitalisation rose ~91 trillion during the year to ~204 trillion.
Among the new faces in the Narendra Modi Cabinet, Aviation Minister Jyodradita Scindia reported a net worth of ~31.97 crore.
He declared investment in mutual funds of about ~11 lakh and ~30 lakh in unlisted shares. Railway and Communications Minister Ashwini Vaishnav's declaration showed his holding in three listed stocks including Gujarat State Fertilizers, L&T and Vedanta at a value of ~6.23 lakh. Since they joined the Cabinet in the current fiscal, their previous year’s asset declarations are not available. The Franklin Templeton crisis has also had an impact on some of the ministers’ net worth. Petroleum Minister Hardeep Puri’s mutual fund portfolio is one example. The disclosure shows, Puri has investments worth ~18.6 lakh in Franklin Credit Risk Fund, one of the six schemes wound up by the fund house last year. The scheme created side-pockets on account of default in payment by YES Bank and also markdown on account of exposure to Vodafone paper.
Puri’s movable assets stood approximately at ~2.22 crore which includes Puri's family trust account balance of ~60 lakh. In the declaration, he said the increase in the trust balance is due to liquidation of fixed deposits and sale of shares and bonds held by the trust during the fiscal. In FY20, his movable asset was about ~1.28 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s net worth as of March 31 was ~3.07 crore, up nearly ~22 lakh from ~2.85 crore last year. His assets have primarily increased due to the bank's fixed deposits receipts.
The movable assets of Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari stood at ~4.90 crore in FY21, compared to ~5.09 crore in FY20, a decrease of about 19 lakh, according to the declaration.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s declared a residential property worth ~99.36 lakh, held jointly with her spouse and non-agricultural land worth ~16.02 lakh.
Sitharaman owns no four-wheeler but has declared ownership of a Bajaj Chetak scooter worth ~28,200. She has a 19-year home loan, a one-year overdraft and a 10-year mortgage loan. Her movable assets are worth ~24.97 lakh. This was mostly in line with her FY20 disclosures.
The net worth of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also not changed much compared to last year. He has declared ~2.24 crore worth of movable assets and ~2.97 crore worth of immovable assets. His total assets stood at ~5.21 crore against ~4.93 crore in FY20. Singh has no exposure to the stock market.