WB 'ease of doing business' report doesn't factor in Modi govt

As India slipped to 142nd position in World Bank's 'ease of doing business' rankings, BJP today said it only includes reforms carried out by the UPA regime up to May this year, and claimed that the slew of measures taken by the Modi government will be part of the next report.
BJP said the Modi government is committed to improving the 'ease of doing business' ranking and is making efforts to bring India among the top 50 nations, and listed out a host of reform measures initiated in the first few months of the Modi regime to make India a business- friendly destination.

"The BJP government is committed to improving 'ease of doing business'... It is making efforts to bring India in the first 50 ranks," BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma said.
Listing out some of the reform measures of the Modi government, he said registration of Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) as well as the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) have been made online, and environment and forest clearances can also be tracked online.
The BJP leader said a revised labour inspection scheme has been put in place under which selection of units to be inspected is done randomly, and a single registration number for labour-related compliances has been launched.

Besides, he said, the process for applying for industrial licences and industrial entrepreneurs memorandum has been made online and a large number of components have been excluded from industrial licencing. Under the Companies Act, a greater role has been assigned to independent directors and committees of the Board, he added.

The BJP-led NDA regime has initiated a number of reforms which have not been included in World Bank's 2015 report and the measures taken by this government will be included in World Bank's 2016 report, he claimed, adding that this has been admitted by top World Bank officials too.
India ranked 142nd among the 189 countries surveyed for the latest World Bank's "Ease of Doing Business" report released yesterday, a drop by two slots from the last year's ranking, as Singapore topped the list.

The fall in India's ranking from last year's 140 is mainly because other nations performed much better, WB officials said. India's ranking originally stood at 134 last year, but was adjusted to 140 on account of fresh data.
In the 2014 report, India got 52.78 points and this year it scored 53.97 points.