S&P: India ratings to depend on next govt's policies

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Standard and Poor's may upgrade India's outlook if the government that is elected next month addresses some of the country's fiscal and economic challenges through steps such as passing a goods and services tax.

"If in the future they implement policies that effectively addresses some of the credit weaknesses that I have highlighted, we could revise the outlook to stable again," said S&P senior director Kim Eng Tan in a webcast.

"In the absence of effective policy action, we could lower the ratings on the sovereign," he added.

S&P rates India at "BBB-minus" and is the only of the three major credit agencies to have a "negative" outlook.

(Reporting by Suvashree Dey Choudhury; Writing by Neha Dasgupta; Editing by Rafael Nam)