Once in a Blue Moon Academia (OBMA)

  Chaosophy of Credit Ratings: Where’s the Accountability? Posted on 17th January, 2026 (GMT 07:40 hrs) ABSTRACT This article offers a comprehensive, non-polemical examination of the accountability architecture governing credit rating agencies (CRAs) in India, focusing on CRISIL, CARE Ratings, and ICRA under the SEBI (Credit Rating Agencies) Regulations, 1999 (as amended through 2026). Situating itself in continuity with earlier analyses of Piramal Finance and Piramal Pharma ratings, it maps what CRAs are legally mandated to do, how the issuer-pays model structures incentives, and why regulation centered on process rather than outcomes produces a persistent accountability gap. Drawing on verifiable rating actions, enforcement precedents, and the DHFL collapse as a paradigmatic failure, the article demonstrates how credit ratings—legally framed as professional opinions rather than conclusive, decisive guarantees—shape capital flows and investor behaviour without imposing commen...

  From Issuer Pays to Polluter Pays: Unearthing Piramal Pharma’s Credit Ratings Posted on 16th January, 2026 (GMT 01:48 hrs) ABSTRACT Piramal Pharma Limited (PPL), demerged from Piramal Enterprises in 2022, enjoys high investment-grade credit ratings (e.g., CARE AA; Stable upgraded July 2025) under the issuer-pays model, which critics claim manufactures trust to enable cheap borrowing despite severe financial strain—Q2 FY26 revenue down ~9% to ₹2,044 crore, EBITDA crashed 44%, net loss ₹99 crore, high leverage (~3x net debt-to-EBITDA), weak interest coverage, and share price falling ~19% from ₹204 (July 2025) to ~₹166 (mid-January 2026). This rating resilience contrasts sharply with the alleged “Digwal massacre” at its Telangana plant: repeated effluent dumping (comprehensively reported by 2018) contaminating water/soil, devastating farmland, and linked to spikes in kidney failures, respiratory issues, and cancers among villagers; despite NGT’s ₹8.3 crore polluter-pays fine (2...