There is good news for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India has made considerable progress in ensuring ease of doing business. The World Bank’s annual ease of doing business global ranking proves that. It has gone up by thirty places this year and ranks 100th among 190 countries reviewed. What is more, India is among the top improvers. The ranking shows the growing of close rapport between the government and entrepreneurs, especially of MSME’s. It also indicates a huge improvement in the country’s economic environment. Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves special praise as he has been pursuing this objective with maximum effort. India has done best in protecting minority shareholders. It holds the fourth position in the world in this regard thanks to significant changes in the laws governing party transactions. The country has done well in getting electricity connections and maximizing tax payments. Changes in business processes have simplified performance of small entrepreneurs. What is also impressive is that there has been an absolute improvement on India’s score in the ease of doing business. It has done better not merely than other countries but has also made a big improvement on earlier showing.
The ranking should be viewed in proper perspective so that progress in this area is not merely sustained but also pushed forward. The World Bank Survey has however covered only the country’s large cities of Mumbai and Delhi. But that should be a fair index. Indicators on the ease of doing business are primarily based on laws and regulations. About two thirds of the data are related to a reading of the law. The government should make sure that the biggies in officialdom understand the law in its letter and its spirit. Strict implementation of the law is of the utmost importance. All in all, India’s improvement in this sphere is a great leap forward and should set an example to countries that rank lower. Ease of doing business cannot be isolated from business with other countries.
