How Will India Become The #2 Economy …

… if it can’t get control of the rampant bribery that plagues the entire country? From what I’ve been reading, the situation hasn’t improved any since KPMG did their 2008 study that found that 84% of Indian Businesses pay Bribes (as quoted on hindustantimes.com). According to this recent article over on NDTV, India [is still] among the top bribe paying country (according to a recent Transparency International study). According to the recent study, 1 in 2 Indians (54%) have had to grease the palm of authorities to get things done. Even more worrying is that bribes to the police have almost doubled since 2006 and bribes to judiciaries for registry and permit services are up as well. In other words, it’s not the private sector that is the problem, it’s the public sector!

And if the public sector is the problem, which is especially true in Bangalore which tops in India’s bribery chart (commonfloor.com), how are they going to continue to grow in a global economy when country after country is adopting anti-bribery laws, like the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in the US or the Bribery Act in the UK (that follows the recommendation of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention that is attempting to eradicate bribery in all of the 34 member countries). Especially when the problem is so bad that it’s said that even [the] blind are witness to bribery in India (thaindian.com)?

I don’t have any answers. Some people are suggesting that legislation may be the answer (equitymaster.com), but if officials can be bribed to ignore it, it won’t solve the problem. If you have any ideas, please feel free to leave a comment.


Bribe, bribe, everywhere a bribe
Preventing the transaction, breaking my bank
To do this or do that, you must make a bribe