Dr Faustus's price

The coal scandal began with revelations about the Manmohan Singh government, then expanded in scope to take in the Vajpayee government, and has now become a sweeping saga that lays bare the contemporary Indian state. Not to put too fine a point on it, we are running a kleptocracy, one where the majesty of the law is used repeatedly to favour the growing tribe of crony capitalists, until a crisis erupts and all bets come off. Companies squatted on coal mine allotments for years, without bothering to even apply for permissions to begin mining, but the official story when it came to coal shortages was that Coal India had failed.

Read Full Story>>