Counterfeiting, piracy used in terror funding

Counterfeiting, piracy and smuggling are emerging as the likely sources for financing international terrorist organisations, non-state sponsored terrorist organisations and domestic terrorist groups, a Ficci-Ernst & Young study has said.

While conventional modes of terror financing, like state sponsorship and donations, continue to play a big role, newer modes, like counterfeiting, piracy and smuggling, have also started emerging, and terrorist organisations worldwide are exploiting such means to further their cause, it said.

The study quoted reports compiled by various agencies revealing penetration of counterfeiting is huge in some sectors. It said almost 10 per cent of all the drugs sold worldwide are fake and this number goes up to 25 per cent in India.

Ficci conducted a detailed study of seven sectors in India on the impact of grey markets on sales loss to industries and taxation loss to the government. Grey market in the automobiles sector is close to 30 per cent, followed by over 26 per cent in computer hardware and cumulative losses to the government in tax revenue due to these is close to Rs 4,000 crore.

If the grey market of mobile phones, alcohol products, tobacco and FMCGs are added to these, tax losses climb to Rs 26,000 crore.  

The study also suggested that India is among the top nations in the world in terms of video piracy. The estimated loss in 2012 was $1.1 billion, up 15.79 per cent from 2008.