Indian banks dallying on RCom's $7 bn debt may spell trouble for Modi govt

Failing to take the initiative before the inevitable bankruptcy of Reliance Communications has cost the state lenders money

For a capital-starved economy, India shows little urgency to extricate good money stuck in failed businesses. 

That was going to change after the adoption of a modern bankruptcy regime in May 2016. Alas, legal improvements notwithstanding, the culture of extending the life of bad loans to big businesses and pretending nothing is wrong with them is proving too hard to end. 

Take Reliance Communications Ltd. After more than a year and a half of kicking the can down the road, the erstwhile Indian telecom operator is filing for bankruptcy. 

Even in March 2017, when RCom owed creditors $7 billion, it was clear that