DOING BUSINESS IN INDIA : EASIER THAN EVER BEFORE
The World Bank ’ s Ease of Doing Business index ’ sfi gures for 2018 recorded a jump of 30 places in India ’ s ranking . India is now amongst the top100 countries , out of the 190 nations surveyed . India is the fi rst ever country to record such a high jump in the ratings .
By definition , the Ease of Doing Business index ranks 190 countries based on 10 indicators that carry an equal weight . These are : Protecting Minority Investors , Getting Credit , Getting Electricity , Resolving Insolvency , Paying Taxes , Trading across Borders , Registering Property , Starting a Business , Enforcing Contracts and Dealing with Construction Permits .
India is ranked 4th in terms of Protecting Minority Investors in 2018 . It ranks 29th in terms of Getting Credit as well as Electricity . In fact , India has shown improvement in most of these indicators as compared to 2017 . For instance , the Indian economy has improved its spot to 103 in terms of Resolving Insolvency , one of the most promising indicators , up from 136 in 2017 . Further , the biggest jump of 53 places is displayed in the Paying Taxes indicator , with India moving up to 119th spot owing to its fast progress with regard to tax reforms . India is one of the top five reformers , improving its score in six out of the ten criteria used by the World Bank for measuring the ease of doing business .
This rating , however , is not a surprise . The Government of India has been consistently undertaking positive growth-oriented steps to achieve it . Some of these are extensive exercises in terms of stakeholder consultations , identification of user needs , government process re-engineering to match rules and procedures with user expectations and streamlining them to create a more conducive business environment . Acknowledging India ’ s reform trajectory under Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’ s leadership ,
28 • INDIA-OMAN • 2018