India Country Profile

Environment, Natural Resources and Extractive Industry

Business Corruption

Observers point to the fact that ships containing toxic chemicals are allowed to enter Indian waters in connection with salvaging, even though the import of toxic ships for scrap is illegal. Ship-breaking is a major industry in India and there are rumours that bribes to local customs authorities and coast guards pave the way for the illegal inflow of toxic ships. The Government of India has made gas-free certificates mandatory in an effort to improve conditions for the workers. However, observers report that companies involved in ship-breaking are able to obtain these certificates and other permits by outright bribery or on the black market.

Corruption and looting in India's mining sector is reportedly common. Fixed bidding and kickbacks on mining contracts are reportedly also common. According to a 2008 article by Asia Times, mining companies, such as Jammu Kashmir Minerals Ltd (JKML) operating in the corrupt and unstable Kashmir state, have been accused of undervaluing gems and other resources in auction processes to benefit certain traders and high level officials. JKML, despite the potential of massive profits from its holdings, including vast sums of sapphire, remains dependent on government aid and is unable to pay its employees for months on end. Suspicion has also been raised over JKML employees accused of being involved in profitable smuggling rings in Kashmir. Corruption in the sector and the absence of accountability have taken their toll on the mining industry and in some cases prevented what could be valuable development.

According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Report 2008, corruption is estimated to add at least 25% to irrigation contracts. The rise of cost induced by corruption has made the irrigation system inefficient and small farmers are the group which has suffered most.

Political Corruption

According to Greenpeace, there are indications that central and state level politicians are involved in corruption linked to the circumvention of Indian environmental legislation related to the Basel Convention, which regulates international ship-breaking.

According to a 2006 article by Reporters Without Borders, a reporter from the newspaper Asomiya Khabar, in the state of Assam, was murdered following a series of articles exposing corruption among forestry service officials. The reporter, Prahlad Goala, had accused the officials of having links to timber smuggling.

Frequency

Transparency International India & CMS: India Corruption Study with Focus on Below Poverty Line Households 2007:
- Approximately 36% of the surveyed BPL households believe that corruption exist in the forest service.

- Approximately 13% of BPL households that interacted with forest related service either paid bribe or used contact to avail the service during the previous year.