Touted as Asia's richest village, Madhapar, which lies six km from Bhuj, Gujarat has once again made the news with deposits of banned notes estimated to be somewhere between £15 to 20 million. Currently, the ratio of withdrawal is merely 20 per cent as compared to the deposit ratio of 80 per cent. In May this year, 18 banks and post offices totalled for a whopping amount of £347.7 million in deposits.
With a population dominated by the Patel community, the village owes its cash inflow to the huge foreign remittances made by NRIs settled in London, America, Africa, and Australia. Sources said that with 17 banks and a post office, there are a total of 18 places for the residents to deposit their money until December 30. Now even if you consider daily deposits at an average of somewhere between 600 to 700, and minimum Rs 50,000 per person, even then, the total deposit surpasses Rs £15 million.
Also, owing to the demonetisation move, NRI residents are sending back their banned Indian currency notes to be deposited in the banks with the help of their relatives. A simple calculation tags the deposited amount at somewhere near £20 million.
