By James Lamont in New Delhi

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry is launching a nationwide initiative with Bain, the US management consultant, to restore faith in India?s business community and investment prospects.

The country?s leading companies are starting a campaign – ?Credible India? – aimed at countering the effect of a tide of corruption cases that has weighed heavily on India?s attractiveness as a leading emerging economy investment destination.

A series of scandals over the past year has paralysed the Congress party-led government and severely dented India?s appeal to investors. Foreign direct investment has dropped markedly, portfolio investment has waned – in spite of India?s forecast economic growth of 8 per cent this year – and the rupee has fallen against the US dollar.

Rajiv Kumar, director-general of Ficci, told the Financial Times that India?s businesspeople have frequently faced questioning from investors abroad about the credibility of the government?s five-year plans, over-ambitious infrastructure delivery targets and the anti-graft mood sweeping the country.

Over the past year, senior executives and politicians have been put behind bars for suspected scams in the telecoms sector, the running of the Commonwealth Games and illegal iron ore mining.

The ?Credible India? initiative is a play on the Ministry of Tourism?s high-profile ?Incredible India? international marketing campaign – a multimillion-dollar drive to change perceptions about India and market it as a tourist destination of palaces and pristine landscapes.

The business lobby has been galvanised by the humiliation of the World Bank?s latest Doing Business index, which ranked India 134th out of 183 countries for ease of doing business.

?For a country that aspires to be a global economic powerhouse, such a ranking is highly counter-productive and can prove to be a big impediment in the realisation of that goal,? said Harsh Mariwala, Ficci president and chairman of Marico, a leading consumer goods group.

The business group is to publish a Credible India Index that ranks states by their progress towards reform and friendliness toward investment.

Among the top ?problem areas? it has identified are land acquisition, labour laws and delays surrounding government investment approvals.

? The Financial Times Limited 2011