Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said the country was only a few steps away from breaking into the top 50 nations on the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking.
Chairing a meeting on the ease of doing business with top industrialists and policy makers, the Prime Minister said his government was giving policy-based governance that has helped to push the country to 77 in the World Bank ranking for 2019 that was published this year from 142nd for 2015.
Reforms will continue and procedures eased further to make it easier for companies to operate in the country, Modi said, said adding efforts were on to increase the size of the economy to $5 trillion.
India was ranked 142nd among 190 nations when Modi’s government took office in 2014. At that time, the country was battling perceptions of red-tape and policy paralysis, Modi said.
Four years of reform have pushed India’s rank up to 100th for 2018. It was 130 for 2017.
The Prime Minister also launched the ”Ease of Doing Business Grand Challenge”, which seeks to invite ideas from individuals, startups or other enterprises to implement AI, big data analytics, Internet of Things (IOT), blockchain and other technology for re-engineering related government processes.
“We are just a few steps away from breaking into the top 50 in the rankings. India has improved on 8 out of 10 markers,” he said. Efforts are now on to develop the ranking system at the district level.
Outlining various measures taken by his government, such as the insolvency and bankruptcy code, GST, note ban, economic offenders bill, Modi said the Centre has successfully managed to crack down on corruption and improve tax filings.
“From changing the laws to putting it all into practice, all these decisions were not easy to take. Yet, we managed to implement these reforms in a short span of time. “Our country is on a path of reform and improvement. Global institutions such as the IMF and World Bank have acknowledged India’s rise.
“As per the analysis of Moody’s and World Economic Forum, the position of India has either gone up or is rising. Now our efforts are to take India to the 5 trillion dollar club. To achieve this, we have to improve in all the sectors of the economy.”
More measures
Analysts said more steps needed to be taken to break into Top-50. Several measures are required in resolving insolvency, enforcing contracts, construction permits and credit flow. The country needs to improve on the time taken to register real estate, starting business and the enforcement of contracts.
Top industrialists such as Anand Mahindra, Rakesh Bharti Mittal and senior representatives of industry chambers CII, Ficci and Assocham, among others, attended the meeting. Senior government officials associated with the World Bank ranking were also at the meeting.
The Telegraph
