PhotoAbout a third of all business in India is carried out using black money. Whole industries, like real estate, trading, luxury retailing and wedding services, have been fueled by black money for decades. To a certain extent, analysts say, the Indian economy is so dependent on black money that economic dislocation was unavoidable if India was to seriously attack the problem. Real estate has been particularly hard hit by the ban on black money, since sale documents filed with the government typically reflect only the portion of the sale price paid by check. Families that had stashed large amounts of black money to spend in the coming wedding season, which starts in December, are scrambling to make contingency plans.

Source: New York Times November 20, 2016 18:07 UTC