[Assam] From ToI/India world leader in greasing palms

[Chan Mahanta]

What did I tell you :-)?

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India world leader in greasing palms
[ 5 Oct, 2006 0031hrs ISTTIMES NEWS NETWORK ]

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  LONDON/NEW DELHI: India doesn't just have loads 
of corruption at home, it is also the world 
leader in exporting graft.

  Months after Transparency International ranked 
India as among the more corrupt societies in the 
world, the NGO⤁s Bribe Payer's Index 2006 shows 
that Indian exporters are more willing than their 
counterparts from other countries to pay overseas 
bribes to secure business, clinch contracts, do 
deals and generally get on in the world.

  Of the 30 countries surveyed by the index, India 
was the worst â¤" or most willing to give â¤" 
followed by China and Russia.

  With Brazil also ranking pretty low as the 
eighth biggest bribe giver, the BRIC nations â¤" 
the foursome of Brazil, Russia, India and China 
â¤" predicted to become among the biggest 
economies in the world by 2050 â¤" emerge as 
being prepared to do whatever it takes to enhance 
their share of the global trade pie.

  While this is the third BPI released by 
Transparency, after the ones in 1999 and 2002, it 
is the first time India has featured in the index.

  It was considered too economically insignificant 
and lacking global spread and reach in the 
earlier rounds. Liaoran Liao, Transparency 
International programme coordinator for South 
Asia, told  TOI  on Wednesday that it was 
definitely bad news for India to make its first 
outing on the BPI with a most-corrupt ranking for 
its newly jet-setting companies.

  "In 1999 and 2002, India was not listed on the 
BPI," said Liaoran, "but now India is considered 
an emerging economy and an emerging export power, 
so the CEOs and MDs ranked its companies."

  The newest league table was compiled after 
asking 11,000 top business executives in 125 
countries to rank foreign companies in order of 
their propensity to bribe in the World Economic 
Forum's Executive Opinion Survey.

  Transparency said the executives ranked India 
bottom of the list of 30 countries. The 
executives suggested Indians seemed ready to do 
business by paying bribes or making extra 
payments.

  The BPI ranked Swiss companies as least likely 
to use brown envelopes and backhanders to get the 
job done. No Asian country figures in the list of 
the ten cleanest countries. Japan figures 
eleventh followed by Singapore.