NEW DELHI, August 12: Harshad S Mehta, Ramesh J Chauhan, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Citibank and Larsen & Toubro Limited are among the 20 top income tax defaulters in the country as on March 31, 1997.

The minister of state for finance Satpal Maharaj told Rajya Sabha today Harshad Mehta owes the central exchequer Rs 5,439.23 crore, Ramesh J Chauhan Rs 1,188.74 crore, ONGC Rs 1065.81 crore, BHEL Rs 292.08 crore, Citibank Rs 265.12 crore and Larsen & Toubro Rs 184.49 crore.

Maharaj disclosed the names of the top 20 I-T defaulters as on March 31, 1997, in a written answer to a question from Rajubhai A Parmar. The others in the list include Bhupendra C Dalal, Ashwin S Mehta and Jyoti Mehta.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.