Can India weather corporate scandals?

INDIA

Any keen observer of India's economic woes and recent disappointing stock market performance will know investor sentiment has been poisoned further by the relentless publicity around corruption at the highest echelons of politics and industry.

In the eye of the storm for the last 18 months or so has been the telecom sector. In 2011 it came to light that back in 2006, the then telecoms minister and his cronies had been selling licences for 2G spectrum to the highest bidders on a first come first served basis at an estimated loss to the public purse of $32bn. What is more, the Indian companies that colluded with the minister were in some cases then roping their foreign partners into the scam by forcing them to absorb this cost via the joint venture structures that were set up. The aftershocks of this scandal are still being felt...