The high cost of doing business in India - thestar.com

A spokesman for Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh told the Star after reviewing Ali’s complaint, the state government would explore Ali’s allegations. “There will be an investigation and follow up,” Arun Bisain, Singh’s spokesman, said.

Baijendra Kumar, principal secretary of the Chhattisgarh government, said the inquiry by the state’s public works department could take a week to 20 days.

Agrawal, the minister who is a member of India’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, responded to an email about the allegations: “Sorry, I don’t know?? about this matter, thanks.”

The Canadian government has also become involved. An official with the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi informed Ali on Thursday that it would contact Singh to discuss Ali’s charges.

His plight is a familiar one in modern India. Corruption has stifled optimism over this booming nation’s economic coming of age. Foreign investment is slowing, and analysts speculate one major reason is because companies find it unwieldy dealing with corruption.

India ranks 87th out of 178 nations in Transparency International’s 2010 corruption perception survey, meaning that other developing countries such as China, Columbia and Rwanda are considered less corrupt.