Diamond trader surrenders Rs6,000-cr of hoarded cash: report

Amidst stories of people's difficulties in finding cash for daily needs, reports circulating in the media said a Gujarat-based diamond merchant has surrendered a sum of Rs 6,000 crore in cash.

According to a report in Zee News, Laljibhai Patel, a Surat-based diamond merchant, surrendered Rs6000 crore, in cash, to the government on 11 November, two days after the demonetisation of Rs500 and Rs1,000 note by the government.

Patel is known for his charitable and philanthropy works, including the Rs200 -rore donation that he made for girl child education earlier this year.

The report, however, did not confirm the reason behind the surrender of the huge cash hoard.

In any case, the money could not have been deposited in a bank. But such stories make reports of Rs200,000 crore flows into bank deposits look trivial.

Meanwhile, the State Bank of India (SBI) on Monday said it has collected Rs83,702 crore in deposits in the last five days following the government's decision to demonetise the old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes.

The country's largest lender exchanged Rs4,146 crore of scrapped notes between 10 and 14 November, the bank said.

Though several branches were closed in many parts the country on account of Gurunanak Jayanti on Monday, a number of branches, especially in southern states, were open.

Withdrawals from SBI branches stood at Rs9,342 crore since 10 November.

The bank also witnessed withdrawals from ATMs to the tune of Rs1,958 crore till 5 pm on Monday.

Customers also deposited Rs4,654 crore worth of old Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes through cash depositing machines.

The finance ministry, yesterday, increased the limit of old and now withdrawn Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that can be exchanged for freshly minted Rs 2,000 and new Rs 500 notes from Rs 4,000 to Rs 4,500 per day.

Cash withdrawal limit at ATMs was hiked to Rs2,500 from Rs2,000 a day.

The weekly limit of Rs20,000 for withdrawal from bank counters has been increased to Rs24,000.

In a statement issued yesterday, Indian Banks Association (IBA) had said in the last three days, banks disbursed nearly Rs30,000 crore in currency notes of lower denominations and the newly introduced Rs2,000 notes.