India Among Most Corrupt Nation

Corruption has become as way of life across the world,
costing global economies billions of dollars every year.
Transparency International's (TI) Global Corruption
Report 2009 shows how bribery, price-fixing cartels and undue
influence on public policy undermine fair competition, stifle
economic growth and ultimately undercut a business's own
existence.
About half of international business executives polled by TI
estimated that corruption escalated project costs by at least 10
per cent.
The report reveals that consumers around the world were
overcharged approximately $300 billion through almost 300
private international cartels discovered from1990 to 2005.
In developing countries alone, companies colluding with
corrupt politicians and government officials have supplied
bribes estimated at up to $40 billion annually, according to TI.
Companies with anti-corruption programmes and ethical
guidelines are found to suffer up to 50 per cent fewer incidents
of corruption and are less likely to lose business opportunities
than companies without such programmes.
India is ranked 19th in the Bribe Payers' Index with a score of
6.8, out of 10. The higher the score for a country, the lower the
likelihood of companies from that country engaging in bribery
when doing business abroad.
In terms of degree of corruption, the score 10 is 'highly
clean', while score 0 is 'highly corrupt'.
Respondents ranked companies from India, Russia Mexico
and China as those most likely to engage in foreign bribery.
About 30 per cent of respondents indicated that companies
from India are likely to bribe low-level public officials to 'speed
things up'. India ranks 85th out of 180 countries in the
CorruptionPerception Index,with a lowscore of 3.4.