India’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rank may improve

NEWDELHI: India’s standing in the World Bank ranking of countries by ‘ease of doing business’ is set to improve, a year after the country jumped 30 places to clinch the 100th spot, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday, a day before the index is made public.

The country recorded an impressive rise in the rankings last year on the back of policy reforms that improved business climate. Experts say the GST, a reform launched in July last year to replace more than a dozen levies by the Centre and states, could push India higher in the index in 2018.

The World Bank report excluded the impact of GST in its previous report as it covered the period from June 2, 2016 to June 1, 2017. “We have indications that India’s ranking will improve in the ease of doing business index,” the person said, without elaborating on the likely new ranking. HT could not independently gather details about this year’s survey.

An official of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion said in July that measures taken in three areas – paying taxes, resolving insolvency and trading across borders – could improve India’s position.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Monday his government was working toward a better position in the index. “I have always kept ease of doing business as my priority. India was at 140th position in the ‘ease of doing business’ ranking of the World Bank when we took over the responsibility of the government in 2014. Now India has reached 100th position and we are working towards better ranking,” the PM said during his two-day visit to Japan.

In August, Parliament passed a bill to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) 2016, allowing home buyers to be treated as financial creditors and seeking to set up a special dispensation for small sector enterprises.

The World Bank index ranks 190 countries on the basis of 10 indicators, including ‘starting a business’, ‘registering a property’ and ‘getting credit’.