The Dirty Dozen: India's Twelve Biggest Corporate Defaulters

by N. Sundaresha Subramanian

The sensational rise and shocking downfall of India's twelve largest corporate defaulters. In June 2017, the Reserve Bank of India sent shockwaves through the nation as it disclosed a list of the country’s twelve biggest defaulters who were responsible for approximately a quarter of all bad loans in the Indian banking system. The alarming discovery of the ‘dirty dozen’ pulled back the curtain on the murky landscape of corporate irresponsibility and regulatory neglect, revealing the harsh reality of gross economic disparity, complacent governance and coordinated deceit. In The Dirty Dozen, business journalist N. Sundaresha Subramanian investigates the cause and impact of India’s chronic bad loan issue. Recording the economic misadventures of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Jatin Mehta, among others, he lays bare the intricate maze of financial chaos, political plunder and malpractices that ail the country’s corporate landscape. In doing so, he makes an eye-opening diagnosis of the nation’s financial health since liberalization. In a country where millions struggle for basic sustenance, The Dirty Dozen offers a brave, hard-hitting and much-needed exposé of crooked business moguls who have orchestrated deeply damaging financial manoeuvres and amassed millions, enjoying impunity nonetheless and leaving India’s economy teetering on the edge.

312 pages, Paperback

Published April 9, 2024