Never Too Big to Fail

A company with a debt of nearly Rs. one lakh crore collapsed but no one seems to care anymore. Why? India is staring at a financial crisis of apocalyptic proportions in the wake of the pandemic, but the country could have mitigated the impact had it not been in the midst of an economic slowdown caused by the failure of some of the biggest companies. IL&FS was the biggest and the most unexpected failure on this list. The dramatic fall of this low-profile behemoth, which was as sudden as its rise, triggered shockwaves that ripped through financial markets and the economy. Its long-serving Chairman Ravi Parthasarathy and his trusted Aides had rapidly grown the operations across India using an astonishing 340 subsidiaries. Their combined borrowing of Rs. 1 lakh crore was not just mind-boggling but also difficult to comprehend. Multiple stakeholders, including bankers, bureaucrats and other government authorities helped create an Icarus— the infrastructure leasing & financial services limited, which soared higher and higher only to get burnt by its own ambitions. How could so much value, resources and prestige disappear so quickly? Was this a business failure or a fraud?