After two years of rule and after simplifying the business procedures India is still at 130 in ranking in terms of the ease of doing business. The BJP Government is disappointed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked top bureaucrats to study a World Bank report that has dampened Diwali cheer, ranking India a low 130 among 190 countries on ease of doing business.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought feedback from the officials within a month and has asked the government’s most senior bureaucrat Cabinet Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha to oversee the exercise, which will include an analysis by officials of the potential areas where there is scope for improvement in their respective departments and states.
PM Modi has set a goal for India to feature in the top 50 soon for ease of doing business and Union Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today said that target remains. But this year’s rank is just one spot ahead of last year’s revised rank of 131, and the minister took time out of a busy day to address a press conference early on Wednesday morning to express her disappointment.
“Disappointed at our rank this year. Many of our reform steps were after the World Bank deadline,” said the Commerce Minister, who also pointed out that the World Bank report doesn’t take into account reforms carried out by various state governments to help businesses set up their operations.
Though India improved on some things like faster access to electricity, resolving contractual obligations or starting a business, there were still many challenges. Registering a property, getting credit and negotiating the maze of taxes are still a big put off for potential and existing investors.
Many in India Inc shared Ms Sitharaman’s sentiment. Naushad Forbes, a Pune-based industrialist who also heads the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), told reporters that he “wouldn’t be bothered so much about the Report but it must be taken as a marker.”
