Gujarat tops ease of doing business ranking among states

Gujarat was ranked on the top today, among states, on the ease of doing business index prepared by the World Bank, while Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand were placed at the second and third positions, respectively.

Others in the list of top ten states in India providing a better climate for businesses include Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odhisa, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh.

The ranking of the states, prepared by the World Bank at the behest of the government, was based on eight specified parameters which include setting up of business, allotment of land, labour reforms and procedure for environmental clearance.

The parameters also include infrastructure, procedure for registration for tax purposes and inspections for compliance of various norms.

At the bottom of the ladder in the index were Mizoram, Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The report titled 'Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms' also took into account the 98-point action plan on ease of doing business which were finalised at a workshop of chief secretaries last year.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said that the government has set the target of being among the top 30 countries in World Bank's ease of doing business list in the next three years.

Among the major states, West Bengal occupied 11th slot, Tamil Nadu (12th), Haryana (14th), Delhi (15th), Punjab (16th), Himachal Pradesh (17th), Kerala (18th), Goa (19th), Bihar (21st) and Assam (22nd).

Pitching for further ease of doing business, World Bank country director Onno Ruhl, in his foreword to the report, said, "A disproportionately high regulatory burden is borne by businesses in India today."

Because of regulatory burden, India has been ranked at the 142nd position, among 182 nations ranked in the World Bank's Doing Business study, he added.

Various initiatives taken by India in recent times, Ruhl said, would help the government in focusing on "implementation of reforms relating to start a business, resolving insolvency, enforcing contracts, and trading across borders.