How opportunistic behaviour can worsen India's $200 bn-plus bad loan crisis

A capital-constrained economy like India can't afford a jungle raj in finance

Snatch-and-grab is the new hallmark of Indian finance. As a banker friend in Mumbai put it to me only half-jokingly, a unit of "grabbed" cash collateral in hand is worth more than two units of hypothetical receivables. 

Yet this is no laughing matter. Not only is opportunistic behavior going to worsen India’s $200 billion-plus bad loan crisis, but now that everyone from the government’s sleuths to the courts are joining the melee, the ensuing chaos will limit the recovery for lenders and threaten depositors. 

Rajnish Kumar, chairman of State Bank of India, sat down for a chat with me at