Fact Check: Has India Improved In Global Indices As Claimed By The Government?

ByFactcheck India

June 22, 2025 #disinformation, #Factcheck_in, #FactCheckIndia, #Fake news, #fakecheck, #India, #misinformation, #social media,#TruthXIndia

On the occasion of the 3rdanniversary of the Narendra Modi led BJP government taking charge at the center

Claim:

An infographic shared by the Indian government claims that India improved its ranking across multiple global indices during the BJP’s tenure.

Fact Check Verdict: Partially True

Some of the claims are accurate, while others omit important context or cherry-pick data points. India has made progress in certain indices but not uniformly across all.

What Was Claimed?

To mark the third anniversary of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, a dedicated website and infographic were released showcasing India’s performance in several global indices, including:

Global Competitiveness Index
Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report
Logistics Performance Index
Global Innovation Index
Corruption Perceptions Index
Gender Gap Index
FDI Confidence Index

Investigation and Findings:

1. Global Competitiveness Index (WEF)

Claim: India jumped 16 spots in 2016.

Fact: True. India made the biggest leap globally that year.
Context: The improvement is credited to better macroeconomic environment and market size.

2. Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index (WEF)

Claim: India climbed 12 spots to rank 40 in 2017.

Fact: True. India’s ranking improved significantly.
Context: India’s best-ever rank in the index; second only to Azerbaijan’s improvement that year.

3. Logistics Performance Index (World Bank)

Claim: India climbed 19 spots to 35th rank in 2016.

Fact: True. India improved from 54 (2014) to 35 (2016).
Context: The 2014 rank (during early BJP tenure) was India’s worst ever.

4. Global Innovation Index

Claim: India jumped 15 spots to 66 in 2016.

Fact: Misleading. India did rise, but it had fallen to 81 in 2015 — both years under BJP rule.
Context: 66 was also India’s rank in 2013, under the previous UPA government.

5. Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International)

Claim: India improved in 2016.

Fact: False. India’s ranking worsened — from 76 in 2015 to 79 in 2016.
Context: The score slightly improved, but not enough to boost the rank.

6. Gender Gap Index (WEF)

Claim: India rose 21 spots to 87th in 2016.

Fact: True. Improvement largely due to political empowerment rankings.
Context: India still performs poorly on economic participation and education.

7. FDI Confidence Index (A.T. Kearney)

Claim: India ranked 8th in 2017.

Fact: True, but contextual. India was ranked 11th in 2015, also under BJP.
Context: India’s best-ever rank (2nd) was under UPA in 2005, 2007, and 2012.

Conclusion:

While India has improved in some global indices during this government’s tenure, the claims are selectively framed and ignore past highs achieved under previous governments. A few indices show genuine improvement, but others reveal only partial or no progress.