New Delhi, May 5 (IANS): The Congress here on Saturday said the Narendra Modi-led government's claim of India increasingly becoming a cashless society after demonetisation has failed and the cash in circulation has increased.

Citing the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, Congress leader Kapil Sibal said cash in circulation had increased after the note ban decision and today it was more than Rs 21 lakh crore. In 2014 the cash in circulation was 7.8 lakh crore, in 2018 it increased to Rs 18.5 lakh crore. In 2016, just before demonetisation, it was 17.97 lakh crore, he said.

"Claims that demonetisation will eliminate fake notes and deal a fatal blow to terrorism have turned out to be hollow. The people who had black money quietly converted currency through dubious and fraudulent means," the Congress leader said.

The Congress also claimed after the demonetisation in 2017, Rs 7,000 crore were deposited in the Zuric-based Swiss National Bank. "On one hand they are saying we will get back the black money, on the other black money is being stashed away," Sibal said.

A reflection of what the demonetisation had achieved was the cash seizures, a few days before the first phase of Lok Sabha polls, had crossed Rs 377 crore, Sibal added.