The Indian road to financialisation: a case study of the Indian telecommunication sector

Abstract

This article provides an empirically grounded study of financialisation in India and assesses the challenges of theorising financialisation and applying it to developing countries. Drawing on the case study of the Indian telecommunication (telecom) sector, this article then contrasts the characteristics of financialisation in India with those in other developing countries. Using the case study, the key institutions, policies and practices that produce and reproduce financial accumulation in this sector are mapped, detailing how the primary role of finance in the telecom sector has changed from facilitating business to making telecom companies investable financial assets that could be bought and sold for profit. The article shows how the uniqueness of India’s financial system leads to a structure where the state, the public sector banks, the big businesses and the financial markets together play a key role in producing and reproducing financialisation in India.