"This one decision will change social culture, in the way people keep money and spend," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters on Wednesday about the government's move. "The honest person has the satisfaction to be honest and the not-so-honest worry."
An explainer on the sudden removal of 23 billion Indian bank notes
The property sector will be among the hardest hit from Modi's move, brokerages including CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, Credit Suisse Group AG and Nomura Holdings Inc. predicted. The S&P BSE India Realty Index, comprising 11 property stocks, plunged as much as 16.5 percent on Wednesday, the biggest drop since 2009, before rising 4.6 percent as of 11:07am on Thursday amid a broader market rebound.
In fact, if you amend the Google Trends query to " how to convert black money," Haryana tops the list with Gujarat close behind. Other states asking the same question include Punjab, which is due to hold elections early next year, and the capital Delhi. Unexplained cash often crops up at election time to bribe voters.
Overall, Indians sought more information about the government's planned new currency notes that include better security features. Questions on these were among the top five searched topics for Google from India on Tuesday. India has 277 million internet users, the world's largest after China, according to the 2016 Internet Trends report by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.