New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the best state to do business in the country, according to a study by the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) and World Bank. Telangana slipped to the second spot in the ease of doing annual business ranking for 2017. It may be noted the government floated the move aimed at encouraging healthy competition among states to improve the business climate to attract domestic as well as foreign investors.
Among the other major states, Haryana grabbed the third spot in the rankings this year. In 2016, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh were number one states to do business, ahead of Gujarat, which was in the first place in 2015.
In the latest index, those in the list of top 10 states include Jharkhand (4th), Gujarat (5th), Chhattisgarh (6th), Madhya Pradesh (7th), Karnataka (8th), Rajasthan (9th) and West Bengal (10th). National capital Delhi has been ranked 23, dropping from 19 in 2016. Meghalaya was ranked last at 36th position.
Click to see the full rankings.
Touted as India’s most industrialised state, Maharashtra occupied the 13th slot with a reform evidence score of 97.29 per cent and a feedback score of 50.29 per cent.
DIPP said 17 states have achieved a reform evidence score of more than 90 per cent and 15 have achieved a combined score of 90 per cent and more. The states which have achieved 80 per cent or more reforms evidence score represent 84 per cent of the country’s area, 90 per cent of the country’s population and 79 per cent of India’s GDP.
DIPP Secretary, Ramesh Abhishek told ET NOW, ” The states are doing far better than what they have been doing in the last 2 years. They have really improved. You have got so many states who have gone above 90 per cent, 9 states above 90 per cent, 9 states above 80 per cent. So, you have 18 states actually, who have got more than 80 per cent score in the ranking, this actually is a great message. Almost 90 per cent of the population of the country is covered by these 18 states and they are improving dramatically so this momentum of doing ease of business will continue.”
The government, presenting the 2018-19 Budget, had identified 372 action points for states which they would carry out in a mission mode. The parameters include areas such as construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability, and single window system.
In the World Bank’s latest “Doing Business” report, India’s place remained unchanged from last year’s ranking of 130 among the 190 countries.
