Ease of Doing Business; World Bank

What does the Ranking mean?

• Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1–190.
• A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
• The rankings are determined by sorting the aggregate scores on 10 topics, each consisting of several indicators, giving equal weight to each topic.

What are the indicators?

• Regulation for starting a business
• Construction permits
• Getting electricity,
• Registering property
• Getting credit
• Protecting minority investors
• Paying taxes
• Trading across borders
• Enforcing contracts
• Resolving insolvency

India’s Position

• The World Bank recently released its Ease of Doing Business Report, 2020. India was placed at 63rd position this time (2020) out of 190 countries marking an improvement of 14 places from its 77th position in 2019.
• Sustained business reforms over the past several years have helped India jump 14 places to move to 63rd position in global Ease of Doing Business rankings recently.

What are these reforms?

• India has made it easier to start a business in the country.
• India also reduced the time and cost of obtaining construction permits and improved building quality control by strengthening professional certification requirements.
• Its efforts to make it easier to trade across borders and resolve insolvency have also helped improve its ranking.

NOTE:

• India continues to maintain its first position among South Asian countries. It was 6th (in 2014).
• The World Bank will now include Kolkata and Bengaluru, besides Delhi and Mumbai, for preparing ease of doing business reports, to provide a holistic picture of the business environment of the country.
• Saudi Arabia is the most improved economy in Ease of Doing Business 2020, with a total of eight reforms.