India 'most improved' in bribery index, Russia, China worst

When it comes to companies bribing public officials when doing business overseas, India's score has improved the most in a global index, rights group Transparency International said today.

Nevertheless, India continues to be ranked near the bottom of the global Bribe Payers Index, as there was a high likelihood of Indian companies paying bribes abroad.

In a list of 28 countries, India has been ranked 19th, while China and Russia were fared the worst, at 27th and 28th positions, respectively.

The index was based on a survey of 3,000 business executives from developed and developing countries, the anti-corruption group said in a report.

The countries were evaluated on a scale of 0-10 points, with the maximum 10 points corresponding to the view that companies from that country never indulged in bribery abroad and a zero score being equivalent to these companies having always paid bribes.

India's score improved to 7.5 points, up by 0.7 points since the last survey in 2008.

This was the maximum improvement for any country, but India "still remains near the bottom of the table," Transparency International said.

It added that the leaders of G20 nations, during their meeting at Cannes, were expected to recognise the steps taken by countries like India to tackle foreign bribery.

India's score was below the global average of 7.8 points.

In this year's list, the Netherlands and Switzerland have been ranked together on top with 8.8 points each -- indicating that companies from these countries were the least likely to pay a bribe while doing business abroad.

On the other hand, Russia was ranked the worst, with a score of 6.1 points, while China was a notch higher at 27th position, with 6.5 points.