India 69th on global eco freedom index

India has secured an all-time high rating of 6.6 on a scale of 10 in the index of Economic Freedom of the world for 2005 and has been ranked 69 out of 141 countries. The ranking, though, has slipped from 60 in 2004.

The index, prepared by the Canada-based Fraser Institute, was released today by Commerce Minister Kamal Nath, who said the country is following a path of economic reform which was tailor-made to suit its particular needs.

Significantly, this is the highest increase in rating registered by any of the 141 countries on the index in the past 15 years. Though India is ranked higher than countries like China (86), it lags behind Third World countries like Botswana (38) and Mongolia (44). The highest rank is secured by Hong Kong, followed by Singapore and New Zealand.

"The report shows that though India is doing well in pursuing economic reforms, other countries are doing even better," said Parth J. Shah of the Center for Civil Society, one of the partners involved in the preparation of the index.

"When we talk about economic freedom, it as to be tempered with social justice for a country like India. No one will accept inequitable growth in the country. We should also look at institutional freedom enjoyed by bodies like Securities Exchange Board of India and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India as well as the judiciary. This is what has bought us in to the global radar," Nath said, after releasing the report.

The report took in to account parameters like size of the government, legal structure and security of property rights, access to sound money, freedom to trade internationally and regulation of credit, labour and business.