Centre pursues gaming, insurance firms over alleged tax evasion

Indian authorities sent a $208 million tax demand to a private insurer, the latest in a growing list of firms slapped with similar notices as the government intensifies its crackdown on alleged evasion.

ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co Ltd. received the notice for alleged non-payment of goods and services tax, it said in a stock exchange filing late Wednesday. Similar orders have been issued to several others, including major gaming companies, totaling more than Rs 500 billion ($6 billion).

The flurry of demands may potentially dent India’s attempts to lure investment away from China and improve the entrenched perception that the South Asian country — which has a history of hounding foreign firms over retrospective and arbitrary tax charges — is a difficult place to do business.