Investigative non-fiction · India

Ameer Shahul

Four books on how power, money and health collide in India — reported from court records, factory floors and archives.

Pan Macmillan Hachette HarperCollins Reuters AFP Press Trust of India
Coming 2026 · Hachette

The Silent Syndicate

How big finance is quietly buying India’s healthcare.

Foreign private equity firms, pension funds and reinsurers now hold controlling positions across Indian hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, diagnostics chains and health insurance. This book traces who owns what, what it has done to prices, and what it means for a country where most people pay for care out of pocket.

The books

01 · 2023 · Pan Macmillan

Heavy Metal

How a global corporation poisoned Kodaikanal. Fifteen years of litigation over a thermometer factory, 290 tonnes of mercury waste, and 600 poisoned workers.

Book of the Year 2024
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02 · 2025 · Pan Macmillan

Vaccine Nation

How immunisation shaped India. Two centuries of vaccine research and vaccination, from the first smallpox campaigns to the pandemic.

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03 · 2026 · Hachette

The Silent Syndicate

How big finance is destroying India’s healthcare. Foreign capital’s quiet takeover of hospitals, pharma, diagnostics and insurance.

Forthcoming
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04 · 2027 · HarperCollins

Liquid Empire

A hidden nexus in climate change in India. In progress.

In progress
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On the work

“A powerful book.”

Shashi Tharoor

“A must-read.”

Vandana Shiva

A crisp, cinematic account of corporate greed and the struggle for justice.

Indian Express
Book of the Year, 2024Green Literature Festival
Longlisted, 2023Tata Literature Live! Best Non-Fiction First Book
Adapted & translatedTamil edition; Hindi feature adaptation in development

The files

Before each book, there is a file.

Open research notes, timelines and document trails from work in progress and work already published.

File 01 · 2001–2023

Kodaikanal mercury

A thermometer factory in a hill station, 290 tonnes of waste shipped back to the United States, and a settlement reached fifteen years later.

Open file

File 02 · 1802–2025

Two centuries of the needle

India’s vaccination story, assembled as a single timeline: the first arm-to-arm campaigns, the institutes, the resistance, the pandemic.

Open file

File 03 · Ongoing

Who owns Indian healthcare

A running ledger of foreign private equity, pension fund and reinsurer stakes across hospitals, pharma, diagnostics and insurance.

Open file

Speaking

Four talks, built from the reporting.

Festivals, conferences, corporate audiences, universities and newsrooms. Keynote, panel, fireside or half-day workshop. English and Malayalam.

Recent: Hyderabad Literary Festival · History Literature Festival

The list

A book takes two years. The reporting doesn’t wait.

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