The deposits of Indians in Swiss banks have shown a steady decline over the year. It has halved to 9,295 crore rupees last year from about 23,373 crore rupees in 2006.Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said this in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha quoting Swiss National Bank data.

Indians accounted for 0.1302 per cent of the total amount belonging to foreigners in different Swiss banks in
2010.The minister said ,part of the deposits in the Swiss Banks may be related to legitimate business.

As per the Swiss data, of the total 9,295 crore rupees in deposits by Indians in 2010, 1,372 crore rupees was towards fiduciary business. The deposits of Indians in the Swiss banks was 23,373 crore rupees in 2006. Mr. Mukherjee further said India has adopted a five-pronged strategy to get the black money stashed away back to the country. The steps include, joining the global crusade against black money and creating appropriate legislative framework. He said,in a large number of specific cases, information has been obtained under DTAA.

AIR correspondent reports, India signed a protocol with Switzerland in August last year to revise the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA).The revised treaty, which is in the process of being approved by the Swiss authorities, will help India seek banking sector information from Switzerland. Once the revised treaty comes into effect, India can seek bank account details for cases dating from January this year.