Industry Agenda Partnering Against Corruption Initiative - Infrastructure & Urban Development

The report identifies corruption as a major barrier to economic growth in India's infrastructure and urban development sectors, specifically regarding construction permits and land acquisition. Through a pilot in Maharashtra, the World Economic Forum's PACI initiative argues for a combination of technology-based solutions (such as e-governance and online land records) and non-tech interventions (like single-window clearance and social auditing) to reduce bribery and improve market competitiveness.

• Corruption is a primary obstacle to business in India, with the private sector identifying it as the biggest environment obstacle. A joint study by FICCI and EY estimated that the Indian economy potentially lost 364 billion Indian rupees (approximately $5.4 billion) in 2011 and 2012 due to bribery and corruption.
• The infrastructure, engineering, construction, and real estate industries in India are perceived as more susceptible to corruption than other domestic industries and more affected than similar sectors in neighbouring Asian countries.
• In Maharashtra, the complexity and opacity of licensing and permitting processes create costly delays, which incentivize bribery. For some projects, these payments are estimated to account for an average of 50% of the total project cost or more.
• Specific corruption risks in land transactions include inconsistent records across parallel agencies, unclear ownership, and an 'availability paradox' where regulator-set prices are too low for sellers, encouraging off-the-book transactions and tax revenue losses.
• Expert surveys indicate that while technology is a key enabler for transparency—by making transactions visible for social auditing and reducing human interaction—non-technological solutions like 'single-window clearance' are perceived to have a higher impact on performance.
• Workshop participants in Mumbai emphasized that reducing corruption requires standardized procedures, clear lines of accountability, and the empowerment of citizens to act as social auditors to monitor government-industry transactions.

APA

World Economic Forum (2016). Industry Agenda Partnering Against Corruption Initiative - Infrastructure & Urban Development. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PACI_IU_Report_2016.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Industry Agenda Partnering Against Corruption Initiative - Infrastructure & Urban Development. 2016. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PACI_IU_Report_2016.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Industry Agenda Partnering Against Corruption Initiative - Infrastructure & Urban Development |date=March 2016 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PACI_IU_Report_2016.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2016industry, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Industry Agenda Partnering Against Corruption Initiative - Infrastructure \& Urban Development}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2016}, month = mar, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_PACI_IU_Report_2016.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }