The Dirty Dozen: India's Twelve Biggest Corporate Gangsters dives into the heart of India's corporate world, revealing the twelve largest defaulters who reshaped the banking landscape. This investigative non-fiction maps the aftermath of liberalization, exposing governance failures, regulatory gaps, and the high-stakes power plays that allowed financial risk to go unchecked. Written for readers of finance, business, and current affairs—from students to professionals who want to understand how headlines become reality—the book carries a tense, urgent, and eye-opening tone.
From veteran business journalist N. Sundaresha Subramanian, The Dirty Dozen is built as a series of in-depth profiles that thread together case studies, regulatory context, and the human stories behind the numbers. It examines how the Reserve Bank of India's June 2017 disclosure, listing the individuals responsible for a quarter of bad loans, became a catalyst for a broader reckoning with governance and accountability. The book's structure blends data, interviews, and narrative detail to illuminate each defaulter's path—from corporate triumphs to financial crisis—without losing sight of the larger system that allowed it to happen.
What makes the experience unique is the storytelling approach: brisk pacing, clear explanations of financial concepts, and vivid scenes from the boardrooms and banks involved. The reader is walked through the ideas of risk, regulation, and reform in accessible language, with profiles of figures like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi, and Jatin Mehta illustrating how ambition and mismanagement can collide with public consequences. The book doesn't just recount scandals; it offers a diagnostic view of India's financial health since liberalization and invites readers to consider the costs borne by everyday people.
- Twelve detailed profiles of India's biggest corporate defaulters, set against a backdrop of banking and regulatory history
- Investigation into governance failures, regulatory gaps, and political dynamics that enabled risk-taking
- Key context from the RBI's 2017 list and what it revealed about bad loans and systemic vulnerability
- Real-world impact on creditors, employees, and the broader economy
- Clear, data-driven journalism from a seasoned correspondent, with accessible explanations of financial concepts
- Engaging narrative style that connects numbers to people and outcomes
After reading The Dirty Dozen, readers gain a sharper understanding of the forces shaping India's economy, a clearer view of corporate accountability, and a call to thoughtful reform. The book leaves you with questions about governance and a sense of the stakes involved in the future of finance, offering lasting insight into the tough realities behind headlines.
