India Joins Top 100 In World Bank’s Ease Of Doing Business Index

India ranked 130 in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking in 2016 but is expected to jump 30 spots and enter the top 100 ranking in 2017. A local Indian newspaper reported that the improvement from last year’s rank is largely due to the effect of development in certain areas such as ‘starting business’, ‘dealing with construction permits’ and ‘resolving insolvency’.

India’s ranking in these three areas is expected to be significantly better this year. Last year, India ranked 155th, 185th and 136th respectively in these areas. Based on the reports, the low rank from last year has forced India to up its game.

It was said that India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi explicitly ordered members of the government to fast-tract reforms in the country for India’s ranking to improve. The two cities that made significant improvement were Mumbai and Delhi who responded to the challenge from the Prime Minister and made a number of changes to their business environment.

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Meanwhile, a top Indian government official has lauded India’s successful implementation of the recent Insolvency Code and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for effectively boosting India’s business environment. The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code enacted in 2016 created a better framework for insolvency and bankruptcy in the country, repealing several acts as the Presidency Towns Insolvency Act of 1909 and the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Repeal Act of 2003. The GST was launched in India on July 1, 2017.

While India is set to drastically improve its spot in the 190 countries ranked by the World Bank, the improvement is still far-fetch from the Prime Minister’s goal of clinching a spot in the Top 50. The World Bank is set to publish its ease of doing business report for 2018 on October 31.

The improvement in the World Rankings once confirmed will boost the government’s reputation and possibly reduce public scrutiny who have been very vocal in recent times and criticized the BJP government for allegedly messing up the economy through the demonetization drive and the hurried implementation of goods and service tax. There are speculations in the media that if India does move into the top 100 rankings, the BJP will use this as political leverage this to get sympathy from the people of India come election time, especially in crucial parts of the country such as Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

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