Corruption has long been a major problem within the Indian economy. Among 12
major Asian countries, one recent study found that only Indonesia has a higher level
of business corruption than India. Nevertheless, since the days of J. N. Tata, the Tata
family has prided itself on maintaining a high level of ethics within the operations of
each Tata company. The London-based Financial Times noted that the word “Tata”
was for decades accepted as a byword for integrity” within the Indian economy and
Indian society as a whole. According to Newsweek, Tata’s “rigid ethical standards
are so well known that corrupt [government] offcials typically don’t even bother
asking Tata for bribes.”