§ MR. SCHWANN (Manchester, N.)To ask the Secretary of State for India if he 840 will state what was the total of Government of India rupees coined by the Indian Government during each financial year from 1893, when the Indian mints were closed to the public, up to 31st March of the present year; the amount of net profit which the Government of India has received during each financial year from the coinage of the said rupees; does this profit consist chiefly of the appreciation of the rupee in India, as compared with their intrinsic value, consequent on the artificial scarcity of those produced by the prolonged closing of the mints against coinage by the public; what is the amount of deficit or surplus, as the case may be, which has been shown in each year in the financial statement of the Government of India during each of the years above specified; have the net profits on the coinage of Government of India rupees been taken credit for in the Indian financial statement as revenue receipts, and have they consequently been applied to the diminishment of the annual deficits or the increase of the annual surpluses during the period in question; if these profits on coinage have been so taken credit for, what would be the amounts of the deficits or surpluses of the Indian Government for each of the years since 1893 if the said profits on the rupee coinage were deducted.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Brodrick.) (1) Rupees coined by the Government of India:—1893–94, 4,14,11,170 Rs.; 1894–95, Nil; 1895–96, Nil; 1896–97, Nil; 1897–8, 48,64,720 Rs.; 1898–99, 41,79,600 Rs.; 1899–1900,1.30,18,080 Rs.; 1900–01, 17,14,79,318 Rs.; 1901–02, 4,95,20,460 Rs.; 1902–03,11,27,22,680 Rs.; 1903–04 (first eleven months) about 14,00,00,000 Rs.; (2) the net profit on the rupee coinage from the 1st April, 1893, to the 31st March, 1900, is not shown separately in the accounts. The net profit on the coinage of new rupees since the 1st April, 1900, has been:—1900–01, £3,031,294; 1901–02, £415,100; 1902–3, £264,028; 1903–4, £2,465,700 (Estimated). (3) The profit consists of the 841 difference between the cost price of rupees and the value (Is. 4d.) at which they circulate. (4) Surpluses and deficits from 1893–4:—
(5) From the 1st April. 189:5, to the 31st March, 1900, the net profits on the rupee coinage were regarded as revenue receipts and contributed therefore to increase the surplus or diminish the deficit of the year. From the 1st April, 1900, the net profits on the coinage have been transferred to the Gold Reserve Fund, and no longer affect the surplus or deficit of the year.
Surplus. Deficit. £ £ 1893–94 — 1,031,332 1894–95 462,073 — 1895–96 1,202,666 — 1896–97 — 1,136,681 1897–98 — 3,572,807 1898–99 2,640,873 — 1899–1900 2,774,623 — 1900–01 1,670,204 — 1901–02 4,950,243 — 1902–03 3,069,549 — 1903–04 2,711,200 — (Estimated)