The prime minister said Rs 17,000 crore of the Rs 1.25 lakh crore of seized money has already been returned. Real estate constitutes nearly 80% of the value of the seized assets.

Senior Supreme Court advocate Vikas Pahwa, however, says the market value of seized assets would be 10 times the stated Rs 1.25 lakh crore. 

“Majority of them (seized properties) are calculated on the basis of book value. Say a property is purchased in the 70s, 80s or 90s, what I have seen is the value given in the sale deed may be very, very old. So the value of a property purchased then would at least 10 times,” he told BT TV.

Pahwa calls the figure of Rs 1.25 lakh crore conservative. “The moment we are able to achieve the disposal of trial, see the kind of money which will be at the central government’s disposal if we calculate the market value of the property”.