Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal took a jibe at global rating agencies Fitch, Moody's and S&P saying that they had been "unfair to India."
The Minister was lauding CareEdge Rating for its report on India when he pointed out that country had only Fitch, Moody's & Standard & Poor so far, claiming on record that they had been unfair to India.
"They haven't recognised the India growth story, the strong India fundamentals & the sovereign capabilities, the India capability & the future and captured it as much as a rating agency should have done," Goyal said while speaking at a Business Plenary Session in London.
Speaking on the CareEdge rating report, Goyal said he wanted to place on record his appreciation for the agency and its team for what he described as an "objective" evaluation of India's fundamentals.
However, Goyal clarified that he was not attributing any motives to the other global rating agencies, but expressed surprise over their assessments of India compared with other economies.
"I will not cast any motives to it but I do express surprise in it," he said, adding that CareEdge had carried out its assessment "extremely objectively".
Goyal further argued that several economies with weaker fundamentals and limited future prospects have received better ratings from international agencies compared with India. He said such differences highlight the need for greater objectivity and transparency in sovereign credit ratings.
"I almost believe that we must support the Indian effort to bring objectivity to ratings," Goyal said, urging financial institutions to engage in discussions around the rating process.
Addressing representatives from HSBC, Goyal called for wider deliberations involving banks, authorities and global rating agencies. He suggested that agencies such as Moody's, Fitch and S&P should participate in an open discussion to debate methodologies and assessments.
"Get your S&P, Moody's and Fitch to debate with you, maybe on a public platform," he said.
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