Citizen suffers as wilful defaults take toll on welfare schemes: Eco Survey

According to the Survey, promoters at the helm of defaulting firms pledge almost 50 per cent of their shareholding to lenders on average

The money siphoned off by wilful defaulters, if put back into the economy, could have been enough to fund various social welfare-related Budget allocations, argues the 2019-20 Economic Survey and highlights promoters' use of related-party transactions (RPTs) and removing assets to destroy wealth in economy.

"Every rupee lent to a wilful defaulter constitutes an erosion of wealth," the survey states, raising raises concerns about the rising number of such defaulters since beginning of the current calendar year.

"Rich businesses that want to get richer use wilful default as an instrument to redistribute wealth away from the poor," the survey says.

As of 2018,