Speaking at the stone-laying ceremony of Mopa greenfield airport in Goa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended demonetisation of Rs 500, Rs 1,000 notes.

"On November 8 many people of India slept peacefully and a few are sleepless even now. This is important step towards eradicating corruption and black money, but some people are lost in their own world," the PM said.

"The people have chosen a government and they expect so much from it. In 2014, so many people voted to free the nation from corruption. If you asked me to defeat the menace of black money, how can I not do it?" Modi said.

"If any money that was looted in India and has left Indian shores, it is our duty to find out about it," he said.

"You'll be shocked to know that many MPs asked me not to make PAN mandatory for any purchase of jewellery," he said.

"Previous governments neglected this. Did I hide anything? We took a key step to help honest citizen to defeat the menace of graft," the PM said.