Business confidence, which was boosted following the general elections last year has gradually fallen, with sentiment now at the lowest level since April 2014, the month prior to Modi's election.

MNI India Business Sentiment is a monthly poll of Indian business executives at companies listed on the BSE (formerly known as the Bombay Stock Exchange) which has been available since November 2012.

More than 400 companies are surveyed each month and are a mix of manufacturing, service, construction and agricultural firms.

"Confidence is now down 3.8% on the year and 5.7% below the average seen in 2014. In the three months to March the MNI India BSI averaged 64.5, the lowest since quarter ending March 2014. The decline in confidence was led by construction companies, although manufacturing and services firms also posted falls in sentiment," the MNI report says.

Companies were also less upbeat about the next three months with the Expectations Indicator falling to a four month low of 74.9 in March from 75.3 in February. Growth in output and orders continued to ease in March. The Production Indicator fell for the fourth consecutive month to the lowest level since May 2014 and was 8.5% down on the year.

The New Orders Indicator, which is a key signal of business demand declined for the fifth consecutive month and lowest since June 2013.

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