How PNB fraud will affect govt's ability to mobilise big money

The magnitude of the fraud that apparently took place in a Mumbai branch of Punjab National Bank, allegedly to benefit companies controlled by diamond trader Nirav Modi and associates, is staggering. The ease with which processes were subverted, and the length of time for which this subversion happened, suggests that other such stories probably exist, but have not yet been revealed. Naturally, not all of the bad loan problem that Indian banks are going through is because of fraud — in some cases, repayment problems is the natural product of a prolonged slowdown. But it is clear nevertheless that risk