An international corruption watchdog has ranked India as a less corrupt country than China, the first time in 18 years as anti-corruption protests have helped ease corruption perception of the South Asian nation.

In Transparency International's annual survey of least corrupt countries, India plunged 10 places from its ranking last year to 85th out of 175. China fell 20 places in the ranking, occupying the 100th slot.

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Transparency said it was in 1996 when India last did better than China.

The Berlin-based watchdog surveyed  financial institutions, multilateral banks, NGOs, international institutions about perception of corruption in countries worldwide, which formed the basis of its annual Corruption Perceptions Index.

The Index became the basis of the rankings of the least corrupt countries.

Transparency International said corruption perception about India lessened as national protests against corruption continue to be staged, and the national elections have focused the world's largest democracy on corruption issues.

Fighting corruption has been the battlecry of newly installed Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi who assumed office in May.

Under Modi's new  government, new laws have been passed and measures tightened against corruption, meting out harsh punishments on government officials who will be caught committing graft.

Transparency International India Executive Director Ashutosh Kumar Mishra gives credit to the anti-corruption movement sparked by Gandhian Anna Hazare. His high-profile protests helped force the previous government to create a number of anti-corruption bills.

The watchdog said China has lost ground in rankings of all countries, slipping under India despite President Xi Jinping's relentless campaign to fight corruption in its backyard.

Transparency said despite China's high profile corruption campaign, many observers still find Xi's efforts unconvincing.

China and India had the same rankings in 2006 and 2007 but this is the first time China slipped below India since 1996.

TagsTransparency International, Corruption Perception Index, Prime Minister Nareda Modi, most corrupt countries