Starting next month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will begin amassing a warehouse of virtual information collected not just from traditional sources like banks but also from social media sites, as it looks to match residents' spending patterns with income declarations, said people familiar with the matter. Officials will be able to spot those who pay too little tax without raiding offices and homes as they currently do, the people said, asking not to be identified citing rules on speaking with the media.
Built over seven years at a cost of about 1,000 crore rupees ($156 million), 'Project Insight' will complement the world's largest biometric identity database and India's most ambitious tax overhaul as policy makers try to get more people to pay up. While the economy is among the fastest-growing in the world, revenues aren't keeping pace, bloating PM Modi's budget deficit and triggering anxiety about over-zealous tax sleuths.
