Corporate India and investors hailed the UPA government's victory in the trust vote last night saying the political instability and the focus should now be on economic reforms.

The stock market showed upsurge since Monday, coinciding with the commencement of the debate on the confidence motion moved by Prime Minister dr Manmohan Singh, as if reflecting the belief in the victory of the government.

The apex industry chambers welcomed the Prime Minster's victory in the confidence vote saying not only the government should push for economic reforms including the passage for the financial bills, but also take the nuclear deal to its logical conclusion, a move that should help India on the energy front.

The confidence of the India Inc in the government's victory was evident by the response that over 400 CEOs gave in a survey saying the UPA regime will sail through.(See: Business bats for government)

Top officials of Indian banking fraternity said the development would augur well for the economy and the financial sector.

"We expect that in the next three months the major bills pending in Parliament including pension bill and banking reform bill will be pushed through," FICCI president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said immediately after the results of the trust vote were known.

Congratulating the Prime Minister Assocham president Sajjan Jindal described the victory as "a vote to the future of India and pragmatic policy pursued by the UPA government for building strong India".

"With UPA passing the confidence vote Ficci is looking forward to a wave of reforms, some of which were held back in the past due to the ideological concerns of the Left," Ficci said immediately after the counting of votes was over in Lok Sabha this evening.

"We expect that in the next three months some major bills, including Pensions Bill and Banking Reforms Bill, pending in Parliament will also be pushed through," Ficci added.

The Indo-US nuclear deal would give a huge technological edge to the Indian industry in the area of nuclear power generation by opening up opportunities for Indian companies, the chamber said.

With the backing of its new allies, the UPA government would push through the disinvestment of PSUs to restore fiscal health, see through the passage of the Insurance and Pension Bills to generate the much-needed resources for infrastructure building, and give a fillip to the private sector engagement in defence activities, Ficci added.

Ficci said its president Rajeev Chandrasekhar would be proposing to the Prime Minister a 10-point agenda tomorrow to move the reforms efforts forward in a major way.

Echoing similar sentiments, PHD Chamber of Commerce President L K Malhotra said the victory would signal stability and continuation, which is good for the economy and the industry as reforms initiated by the government will continue.

"It will also signal a stint of reforms which have been debated such as insurance, pension funds and financial reforms," he added.

Assocham president Sajjan Jindal said, "This goes to prove that majority of people's representatives are all out to support the nuclear civil agreement for meeting India's energy needs."

Commenting on the government's win in the floor test, Videocon Group Chairman Venugopal Dhoot said, "It is a good thing that the government has won. India need power and victory should help in making power available to farmers at cheap rates."

"US investment will be more in India now; already India has a strong brand equity in the US and that will go up after this," Dhoot added.

Echoing similar sentiments, leading real estate player Parsvnath Developers's Chairman Pradeep Jain said, "I would like to congratulate the Prime Minister and the government. This is a good thing because by this win the government will be able to take forward the nuclear deal."

The nuclear energy coming here would help the country to sustain the GDP growth that it has achieved in the last few years, he added.

"In the next 8-10 months, I hope the government will do lots of good things by bringing in newer technology, which will make the country strong," Jain said.