Poor Sharad Pawar worth only Rs.12 crore

Poor Pawar worth only Rs.12 crore

Urban development minister Kamal Nath is the richest man in the Union cabinet and defence minister AK Antony, true to his image, the poorest, according to the asset list made public by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on Saturday. Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar declared assets worth Rs12 crore, including deposits and shares in various companies. Kamal Nath declared assets worth Rs263 crore. According to Antony's declaration, the minister has no property in his name. However, his wife owns two properties worth Rs30 lakh. The Antony family's total assets came up to Rs33.54 lakh. This includes a second-hand Maruti WagonR purchased through a bank loan. PM Manmohan Singh and his wife own assets worth Rs5 crore. This includes two properties — one house in Chandigarh (estimated to be worth Rs90 lakh) and another flat in Delhi (estimated to be worth Rs88.67 lakh) — and a few FDs and jewellery. Though the PM travels by his official car, a BMW, he owns a 1996 model Maruti 800, purchased at Rs2.4 lakh, 15 years ago. Its value has now depreciated to Rs24,745. Information on the assets of science and technology minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, ministers of state Jayanthi Natarajan (environment and forests), Krishna Tirath (women and child development), Jitendra Singh (home affairs) and S Jagathrakshakan (information and broadcasting) were yet to be uploaded on the PMO website at the time of going to press. The asset details of the union ministers were published after three reminders in a span of two months from the cabinet secretariat. The ministers were asked by the PMO to declare their assets and liabilities in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Ministers. Besides assets in their own name, the ministers were asked to provide details of assets and liabilities of their spouses, dependents, along with all business interests. They were also asked to declare if their spouse or dependents worked with a foreign government or organisation. Minister of home affairs P Chidambaram's assets, including his wife's came up to Rs23.8 crore. Kapil Sibal and MK Azhagiri had assets of over Rs30 crore each. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee assets were worth Rs3.53 crore, while petroleum minister Murli Deora and his wife declared assets worth Rs15.2 crore. His wife also runs two companies and a proprietorship firm. Former textiles minister Dayanidhi Maran declared assets worth Rs2.94 crore, including shares in Reliance Industries Limited. External affairs minister SM Krishna's immovable assets were worth Rs2.34 lakh, movable assets worth Rs4.81 lakh, investments worth Rs3 lakh, and savings worth Rs12 lakh. His wife's assets were estimated at Rs21 lakh. Minister for heavy industries Praful Patel's assets included property worth Rs88.66 crore and Rs33 lakh in FDRs.