India among top bribe-paying nations

BERLIN, Germany: India ranks 19th, out of 28 leading international and regional exporting countries on Transparency International Bribe Payers Index (BPI) 2011.

The recently-released report index indicates readiness of companies to bribe public officials abroad in order to get business. The country has become more corrupt in its international business dealings can be understood by the fact that its score has gone up. India’s score this year is 7.5 against 6.8 in 2008, on a scale of 0-10 (0 being always bribe and 10 being never bribe).

Chinese and Russian firms are the most likely to pay bribes while operating abroad and the most corrupt sectors are public works contracts and construction. They rank 27th and 28th, respectively, on the BPI released this week, indicating that companies of these countries are always ready to pay bribe to public officials abroad.

The Dutch, Swiss, Belgians, Germans and Japanese get the top scores. Britain and the United States rank eighth and ninth. The Netherlands rank first on the Bribe Payers Index. The countries were selected on the basis of large inflow of Foreign Direct Investment and imports. This year six more countries — Saudi Arabia, UAE, Malaysia, Argentina, Indonesia and Turkey — were included in the survey increasing the number to 28 against the 22 in 2008.

“Bribing public officials when doing business abroad is a regular occurrence, according to a survey of 3,000 business executives from developed and developing countries. Companies pay bribe to public officials for a variety of purposes, including to win public tenders, avoid regulation, speed up government processes or influence policy,” says Transparency International in its survey report.

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