Realty, telecom the most corrupt sectors: survey

The telecommunications sector, in the limelight in recent months due to the 2G spectrum allocation scam, has been voted as the second most corruption-prone sector in India after real estate and construction, according to a survey by consulting firm KPMG. 

The survey also found that a huge majority of corporate houses believe India can surpass an annual growth rate of over 9 per cent if corruption is controlled, even while admitting that private sector is greatly responsible for bribery and nepotism. 

The survey is based on responses from 100 Indian and multi-national corporations operating in the country in diverse areas, including transportation and logistics, aviation, oil and gas, consumer goods, financial services, auto and chemicals. KPMG sent queries in January to approximately 300 business operating in India and received responses from about 100, with about 80 per cent of the responses coming from company heads.  About 31 per cent of respondents, who were not identified in the report, also agreed that companies pay bribes in order to do business in India.

As per the final results, 32 per cent of the respondents named real estate and construction sector as most prone to corruption. In second place came telecommunications, which was named by 17 per cent respondents as the most corruption prone sector in India. 

Development sectors such as education and poverty alleviation came third with 13 per cent respondents terming it as the most corrupt. It was followed by financial services such as banking and insurance with 10 per cent, defence with 9 per cent, IT/ITES/BPO with 6 per cent and energy and power with 5 per cent. 

"The survey shows that corporates cannot just claim to be victims of corruption. They are also responsible for it," Transparency International India executive director Anupama Jha said during the launch of the survey.