The conventional narrative that is spun around India is that of crony capitalism. However, the book “diamonds in the dust’ shows that the major challenge India faces are not crony capitalists but old-style corrupt businessmen. Many of these businessmen fly under the radar – they are not household names and when they run away from India after looting billions from their shareholders and from their lenders, it is not front-page news.

In the book extract, accompanying his guest blog, Saurabh Mukherjea discusses one such instance, namely Cox & Kings. The company has a long and interesting history but a careful reading of the firm’s accounts shows that billions of dollars – raised in the stock market and from the banks – disappeared.

To read the blog and the book extract click here