Improving its ranking for the third straight year, India has jumped 14 places to the 63rd position in the World Bank's (WB) ‘ease of doing business’ report on the government’s flagship ‘Make in India’ scheme and other reforms attracting foreign investment. It added that one of the main reasons for improvement in India’s ranking this year goes to the successful implementation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. Besides, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong topped the list this year. The country also figured among the top 10 performers on the list for the third time in a row. India was ranked 142nd among 190 nations in 2014. Four years of reform pushed up India’s rank to 100th in World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ 2018 report. It was 130th in 2017, while last year, the country jumped 23 places to the 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas.
The World Bank in its report also commended the reform efforts undertaken by the country ‘given the size of India’s economy’. Apart from India, the other countries on this year’s ‘top 10 performers’ list are Saudi Arabia (62), Jordan (75), Togo (97), Bahrain (43), Tajikistan (106), Pakistan (108), Kuwait (83), China (31) and Nigeria (131). The World Bank said Prime Minister Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign focused on attracting foreign investment, boosting the private sector - manufacturing in particular - and enhancing the country’s overall competitiveness. The government turned to the Doing Business indicators to show investors India’s commitment to reform and to demonstrate tangible progress. In 2015, the government’s goal was to join the 50 top economies on the ease of doing business ranking by 2020.
As per the report, while the competition to move up the ladder would increase and become much tougher, India is on track to be within top 50 of the Ease of Doing business in the next year or two. And to come under 25 or below 50, the Modi government needs to announce and start implementing next set of ambitious reforms now, as these reforms takes a few years to be realized on the ground. The report said the administration’s reform efforts targeted all of the areas measured by Doing Business, with a focus on paying taxes, trading across borders, and resolving insolvency. The country has made a substantial leap upward, raising its ease of doing business ranking from 130 in Doing Business 2016 to 63 in Doing Business 2020. It said in addition to resolving insolvency, significant improvements were registered in starting business, dealing with construction permits and trading across borders.
