India’s Corruption Crisis: A Systemic Ecosystem of Decay and Democratic Backsliding
The core objective of ICRR remains unchanged: to reveal the structures that enable corruption, describe how they harm public welfare, and highlight the urgent need for systemic reforms.
By Rakesh Raman
New Delhi | December 17, 2025
The India Corruption Research Report 2025 (ICRR 2025) is released at a moment when governance, constitutionalism, and public accountability in India stand at a defining crossroads. Over the past four years of producing this report, RMN News Service and RMN Foundation have observed an unmistakable pattern: corruption in India has not only deepened but has become more structurally entrenched, more technologically sophisticated, and more politically protected.
Corruption today is no longer limited to illicit payments, procurement fraud, or bureaucratic manipulation. Instead, it has evolved into a systemic ecosystem where political power, administrative machinery, corporate interests, and weak oversight institutions intersect to produce outcomes that erode democratic values and deny citizens their fundamental rights. Evidence gathered through news analysis, policy reviews, field observations, and case studies demonstrates that corruption now often manifests as democratic backsliding—the weakening of institutions that are constitutionally obligated to check the arbitrary exercise of power.
Over the past year, India’s governance landscape has witnessed a troubling convergence of political centralization, shrinking institutional autonomy, and opacity in public decision-making. Judicial delays, selective enforcement of laws, breakdown of investigative independence, and unchecked political-financial networks have collectively created an environment where corruption thrives beneath the surface of electoral spectacle and administrative rhetoric. Citizens increasingly confront a reality where transparency mechanisms exist on paper but remain ineffective in practice.
[ Also Read: India Judicial Research Report 2025 – Decline of the Indian Judiciary ]
This year’s report introduces a more rigorous methodological approach. Alongside traditional research techniques—including policy document analysis, review of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) findings, examination of court orders, and monitoring of media investigations—the author has also incorporated responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to support textual analysis and information synthesis. This hybrid approach reflects RMN News Service’s commitment to evolving research standards and leveraging new technologies in line with international ethical frameworks.
The core objective of ICRR remains unchanged: to reveal the structures that enable corruption, describe how they harm public welfare, and highlight the urgent need for systemic reforms. This report does not seek to sensationalize individual scandals. Instead, it attempts to show that the corruption challenge confronting India is fundamentally institutional, not episodic. It is rooted in policy distortions, governance breakdowns, electoral malpractice, bureaucratic rent-seeking, corporate-political collusion, and the steady erosion of rule-of-law guarantees.
The India Corruption Research Report 2025 is therefore not a compilation of stories, but a documentation of systems—systems that must be reformed if India is to safeguard its democratic future. RMN News Service and RMN Foundation present this report with a sense of duty to the public, to the principles of constitutional governance, and to the belief that a transparent and accountable state is essential for the dignity and progress of every citizen.
Archiving on Zenodo
The India Corruption Research Report 2025 (ICRR 2025) has been officially archived on Zenodo—a globally recognized research repository developed by the European OpenAIRE initiative and managed by CERN. This ensures worldwide visibility and academic traceability of its findings.
The report is freely available for access, download, and citation via its permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI). By securing international archiving, the report offers a credible reference point for global research on judicial reform, corruption, and human rights in India.
By Rakesh Raman, who is a national award-winning journalist and social activist. He is the founder of a humanitarian organization RMN Foundation which is working in diverse areas to help the disadvantaged and distressed people in the society.
Donation to RMN Foundation
