The year, 2018 witnessed a remarkable improvement in the Ease of Doing Business report, with India jumping by 23 notches in one take. India noticed a hike in its rank in six out of the ten indicators and has managed to jump 23 notches landing at rank 77 in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report. The first rank was given to New Zealand followed by Singapore, Denmark, and Hong Kong. The USA was placed on eighth rank and China on 46th.
In comparison with BRICS peers such as Brazil, ranking at 109, South Africa at rank 82, and other West Asian economies such as Qatar, landing at rank 83 and Saudi Arabia ranking at 92, the World Bank now deems India as an easier place to do business in. Landing at rank 77, India has now become the top-ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among BRICS. Moreover, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion stated that India now ranks 25 globally on the indicators of getting electricity, getting credit and protecting minority investors. Due to the given achievements, the World Bank recognized the country as one of the top “improvers” of the year. India has now become one of the only nine countries around the world and only one in BRICS to feature in the report’s list of top 10 Improvers for the second year in a row. This has opened the doors for companies looking forward to international expansion in the country.
Launched in 2003, the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report made an independent objective assessment of business regulation across 190 economies that covers the lifecycle of a business from end to end in the following 10 indicators-
- Starting a business
- Construction permits
- Getting electricity
- Registering property
- Getting credit
- Protecting minority investors
- Paying taxes
- Trading across borders
- Enforcing contracts
- Resolving insolvency
India noticed the most remarkable improvements in the indicators related to ‘Construction Permits’ and ‘Trading Across Borders’. India climbed 129 ranks to the 52nd place in the ‘Construction Permit’ on the back of targeted government effort to remove hurdles, making it the biggest gain. In ‘Trading across Borders’, India’s rank improved from 146 in 2017 to 80 in 2017, taking a jump of 66 positions. Commenting on the ‘Construction Permits’, Ramesh Abhishek, Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said, “Online single window in Delhi and Mumbai has streamlined the processes. The procedures have reduced from 37 to 20 in Mumbai and 24 to 16 in Delhi. The time has reduced from 128 to 99 days in Mumbai and from 157 to 91 days in Delhi. The cost has reduced from 23.3 percent to 5.3 percent (percent of the cost of construction).”
The World Bank’s Doing Business Report, which is an assessment of Business regulation across 190 economies, shared the details. The report ranks countries based on the score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice, referred to as Distance to Frontier (DTF). India refined its DTF score from 60.76 last year to 67.23 this year. India’s growth in the industry is significant considering the improvement in Ease of Doing Business Ranking by 23 positions this year, 30 places last year, 53 positions in the last two years and 65 places in the last four years. The country registered the best performance in dealing with Construction Permits by taking a massive jump of 129 places to come to the 52nd easiest place to construct a business unit. The remarkable improvement in the country’s ranking has increased business opportunities in India, giving large organizations an option of setting up a business in the country. “We implemented an online single window system, integrating internal and external departments and removing the requirement of visiting them individually. The time taken to process all approvals during the construction lifecycle has been reduced from 185.9 to 94.8 days,” he added. In regards to trading across borders, he further said, “Robust Risk Management System (RMS) has reduced inspections. e-Sanchit now allows traders to file all documents electronically. Electronic sealing of containers has enabled faster movement of goods.”
[iii] https://thelogicalindian.com/news/ease-of-doing-business-index-india/
[iv] https://www.deccanherald.com/business/india-one-world-banks-top-700919.html
