NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Indian economy was in much better shape than it had been when he took over thanks to his government’s policy changes and that this improvement had come about despite a deteriorating global situation.“By almost every major economic indicator, India is doing better, than when we took office 17 months ago,” Modi said on Friday at the Delhi Economics Conclave. “GDP growth is up and inflation is down, foreign investment is up and the current account deficit is down, revenues are up and interest rates are down, the fiscal deficit is down and the rupee is stable.” Modi, who’s just ended several weeks at the head of a relentless election campaign in Bihar, said India’s economic success was the result of well thought-out policies.He also said that the goal of reforms was not to grab headlines but better people’s lives. “What is the aim of reform? Is it just to increase the measured rate of GDP growth? Or is it to bring about a transformation in society? My answer is clear. We must reform to transform,” Modi said.He said the weeding out of corruption was an achievement that the government’s “worst critics” do not dispute. “For many years, economists and other experts have held corruption to be one of the main constraints on the growth of any developing economy,” he pointed out.The removal of discretion in the allocation of key resources was also a key reform, he said.“Our auctions of coal spectrum and FM radio licences have produced major additional revenues,” he said, adding that the government is taking several steps to serve the honest taxpayer better. He said digital filing now covers 85% of all income-tax returns and that he had asked tax authorities to move to electronic scrutiny. The department should also change the appraisal system to show whether orders and assessments had been upheld on appeal. “This will deter corruption and also motivate officers to pass correct orders,” he said.Modi also listed reforms in the working of the state-owned banks and doing away with interviews for lower-level jobs as being part of this strategy. “We inherited a system where cronyism and corruption were believed to be rampant in banking decisions and in appointments to PSBs (public sector banks),” he said.“Interference in banking decisions has ended... Major steps have been taken to improve efficiency.” He also said the government's efforts to bring back black money stashed abroad has led to the detection of as much as Rs 10,500 crore of illegal wealth.Reforms to transform India were a “marathon and not a sprint,” Modi said. These included embarking on the path of fiscal consolidation and entering into a monetary framework agreement with the Reserve Bank of India to curb inflation.He said the rate at which highway contracts were being awarded has risen to 23.4 km per day from 5.2 km in FY13 and 8.7 km in FY14.“These managerial reforms in the working of the public sector will have large multiplier effects throughout the economy,” he said.With a view to turn the country into one of job creators rather than just job seekers, the government has floated the Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency or Mudra credit scheme. This is part of the government’s push to widen access to the banking system.“Financial inclusion is not just about opening bank accounts or enabling electronic payments. Our financial inclusion reform has been transformational,” he said, adding that accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana now have a balance of Rs 26,000 crore.