Modi sarkar upbeat over Moody's ratings, ease of doing business, Pew survey ahead of Gujarat poll

Ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election to be held in December, the Narendra Modi government is under attack from the Opposition over the former's claims of development.

The Congress in particular has launched an offensive to refute the BJP's claims of development at the national level and in Gujarat.

During his campaign for the Gujarat poll, Congress vice-president has been questioning the government over economy, particularly in the wake of demonetisation move and GST.

However, the developments in the last fortnight give the BJP a handle to counter the allegations of the Opposition.

MOODY'S CREDIT RATING

The US-based Moody's today upgraded India's sovereign credit rating by a notch to Baa2 with a stable outlook citing improved growth prospects driven by economic and institutional reforms.

The rating upgrade comes after a gap of 13 years. Moody's had last upgraded India's rating to Baa3 in 2004.

In 2015, the rating outlook was changed to positive from stable.

The Baa3 rating was the lowest investment grade - just a notch above junk status.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a tweet after the ratings said that Moody's believe that government's reform will improve the business climate.

Quoting Moody's he said it Moody's believes that the BJP government's reforms will improve business climate, enhance productivity, stimulate foreign and domestic investment, and ultimately foster strong and sustainable growth.

Moody's believes that the @narendramodi Government's reforms will improve business climate, enhance productivity, stimulate foreign and domestic investment, and ultimately foster strong and sustainable growth. @MoodysInvSvc&; PMO India (@PMOIndia) November 17, 2017

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley held a press conference hours after the Moody's ratings were released and said they were a reflection of the government's positive work.

"The fact that a series of steps including demonetisation, which are now taking Indian economy to a greater formalisation and digitisation, something which is being universally acknowledged," Jaitley said.

He further said it is encouraging that there is an international recognition and it firms our determination to follow the path that we have embarked upon.

BJP president Amit Shah too hailed Moody's ratings and claimed that the Modi's government's reform initiatives will help put India on a higher growth trajectory.

Moody's believes that Modi Govts reforms will improve the business climate, enhance productivity, attract more investment & put India on a higher growth trajectory.&; Amit Shah (@AmitShah) November 17, 2017

EASE OF DOING BUSINESS

In the beginning of this month, India jumped 30 places to rank 100th in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking. The ranking was based on a slew of reforms in taxation, licensing, investor protection and bankruptcy resolution.

The ranking comes as a shot in the arm for the Modi government.

In its annual report Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs, the World Bank said that India's ranking reflects nearly half of the 37 reforms, adopted since 2003, implemented in the last four years.

India, which was ranked 130th among the 190 nations, is "one of the top 10 improvers in this years assessment, having implemented reforms in 8 out of 10 doing business indicators", it said.

This is the first time India has broken into top 100 nations.

India is the only large country this year to have achieved such a significant shift.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed the rankings. He lauded team India in a series of tweets.

Historic jump in Ease of Doing Business rankings is the outcome of the all-round & multi-sectoral reform push of Team India. pic.twitter.com/DhrEcuurgi&; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 31, 2017

PEW SURVEY

Just a couple of days ago, Pew survey said Prime Minister Modi remains "by far" the most popular figure in Indian politics.

The findings came through the main findings of Pew's latest survey conducted among 2,464 respondents in India.

Modi at 88 per cent is 30 points ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi (58 per cent), 31 points ahead of Congress president Sonia Gandhi (57 per cent) and 49 points ahead of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (39 per cent), said the survey conducted between February 21 and March 10.

Pew said the public's "positive assessment" of Modi is buoyed by "growing contentment" with the Indian economy: more than eight-in-ten say economic conditions are "good", up 19 percentage points since immediately before the 2014 election.

The share of adults who say the economy is "very good" (30 per cent) has tripled in the past three years, it added.

Overall, seven-in-ten Indians are now "satisfied" with the way things are going in the country. This positive assessment of India's direction has nearly doubled since 2014, Pew said.