India jumps 23 places to 77th spot on World Bank's 'Ease of Doing Business' rankings

In its annual report 'Doing Business' 2019 report, World Bank said India improved on six of the 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country.

Image: PTI

New Delhi: India jumped 23 places to secure 77th position among 190 countries, in the ‘Ease Of Doing Business’ ranking released by World Bank on Wednesday, a development that could help the country attract more foreign investments. The World Bank released its latest Doing Business Report (DBR, 2019) in New Delhi where India has recorded a jump of 23 positions against its rank of 100 in 2017. The ranking comes as a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government which faces strong dissenting voices from opposition parties ahead of the general elections next year. Commenting on the development, Prime Minister Modi tweeted "Delighted at yet another rise in India’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rank. We are unwavering in our commitment towards economic reforms, which will ensure an environment that fosters industry, investment and opportunities."

Delighted at yet another rise in India’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rank. We are unwavering in our commitment towards economic reforms, which will ensure an environment that fosters industry, investment and opportunities. @WorldBank

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 31, 2018

Last year India had jumped 30 places in the rankings, which was a rare feat for any large and diverse country of the size of India. Summing up the progress in the last two years, India has improved its rank by 53 positions in the last two years and 65 positions in the last four years. The Doing Business assessment provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies on ten parameters affecting a business through its life cycle. The DBR ranks countries on the basis of Distance to Frontier (DTF), a score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice. This year, India’s DTF score improved to 67.23 from 60.76 in the previous year. India has improved its rank in 6 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score) on 7 out of the 10 indicators. These parameters include ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency. India was ranked at the 142nd position among 190 nations when the Modi government came to power in 2014. It rose to 100th spot in the last ranking from the 131st rank in the previous year. New Zealand topped the list of 190 countries in ease of doing business, followed by Singapore, Denmark, and Hong Kong.  The United States is placed eight and China has been ranked 46th. Neighbouring Pakistan is placed at 136.  World Bank put India among the top 10 economies to make the most improvements.