India’s ease of doing biz rank improves

India has jumped from 77th to 63rd rank in the Ease of Doing Business Rankings released just now by the World Bank. PIYUSH GOYAL , Union minister

NEWDELHI:INDIA ranked 63rd in the World Bank Doing Business (DB) 2020 rankings, a measure of how easy it is do business in the country. This is a 14-rank improvement over 77 in DB 2019. India ranked 100 in DB 2018.

India’s score has also improved, from 67.5 in DB 2019 to 71 in DB 2020.

“India’s impressive progression in the Doing Business rankings over the past few years is a tremendous achievement, especially for an economy that is as large and complex as India’s,” Junaid Ahmad, World Bank country director in India, said.

“Special focus given by the top leadership of the country, and the persistent efforts made to drive the business reforms agenda, not only at the central level but also at the state level, helped India make significant improvements,” he said.

Ministers, including finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad gave credit for the improvement to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bold reforms. Minister of commerce and industry and railways Piyush Goyal said in a tweet: “India has jumped from 77th to 63rd rank in the Ease of Doing Business Rankings released just now by the World Bank. Congratulations to Pm@narendramodi ji for the path breaking improvements in India’s business environment for nation’s prosperity and job creation.”

Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted, “India’s further jump on World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings is reflective of bold reforms undertaken by the government under the leadership of Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi. We have truly moved from red tape to red carpet!”

So, what’s worked for India and what hasn’t?

Since there are 10 parameters in the rankings, and all parameters (and sub-parameters within the parameters) have equal weightage, it is easy to pick the ones where India fares well, and the ones where it does not.

India’s move up the rankings was aided by significant improvements in “Dealing With Construction Permits”, “Trading Across Borders”, and a huge improvement in “Resolving Insolvencies”.

On the last parameter, India’s score increased by 21.2 points.