Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aspiration to turn India into a top investment destination has got off to a positive start, with India now ranked by the World Bank at 130 of 189 countries on “Ease of Doing Business.” That is up 12 places from its original ranking last year and four places from its rank on a revised list.

Points to Note

• India was ranked 142 by the World Bank in 2015 on ease of doing business and later its rank was revised to 134 based on a new methodology.
• China is now ranked 84, moving up six spots.
• Singapore, New Zealand and Denmark occupied the first three spots in the list while South Sudan, Libya and Eritrea were ranked at the bottom three.
• The rankings are based on 10 indicators such as how easy it is to start a business and sometimes form the basis of foreign investments in a country.
• According to the new report, it takes 29 days to start a business in India now; it took 127 days in 2004.
• The biggest improvement was seen in the area of providing power to businesses, where India’s ranking improved from 99 in 2015 to 70 in 2016.
• India is ranked 8th in terms of protecting minority investors, 42nd in getting credit, 70th in getting electricity, but scores poorly in dealing with construction permit with a rank of 183 out of 189 countries. Enforcing contract (rank 178), paying taxes (rank 157), resolving insolvency (rank 136) are other areas where India ranks poorly.

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