Ease of doing biz: India needs reforms to be in top 50, says World Bank

India needs a fresh set of “bold reforms” in the next three to four years if it wants to be among the top 50 countries with ease of doing business, a top World Bank official said on Thursday.

The official’s remarks came as India jumped 14 places to take the 63rd position on the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking.

With the current reform agenda that the bank is watching like Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, enforcing contracts, tax reforms being completed next year or the year after, India can get within the top 50, “may be even in the 40”, Simeon Djankov, Director of Development Economics at the World Bank, said in an interview.

India will face greater competition from other economies in Latin America and Europe to move up the ladder in the ease of doing business report.

"But then to improve beyond that you need fresh set of reforms,” Djankov said.

"India needs to ask, what it can do to from being in the top 50 to the top 25 economies. And for that you need to recharge," he said, adding that the government need to come up with a new set of priorities for the next four years. "I don't think, that exists yet," Djankov said.

The upward movement in the ease of doing report is a result of the reforms undertaken by the Modi Government in its first term. "It (top 25) is possible, but for a large democracy like India, it's extremely difficult,” said the top World Bank official.