Andhra Pradesh retained its top position in the `ease of doing annual business ranking’ of States and Union Territories in 2019. Uttar Pradesh and Telangana were placed at the second and third place, respectively in the ease of doing business for 2019, prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The report was released by the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently.
The report has been prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). While releasing the report, FM Sitharaman said that ranking the states and UTs helps them to perform better. States are marked on the basis of the construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single-window system. The DPIIT conducts the exercise for all States/UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP). ‘In the last ranking released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh had topped the chart, followed by Telangana and Haryana.
“The ranking does not reflect that one is superior to the other. It captures the effort that States are doing to better their ranking,” pointed out Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal. “The ease of doing business rankings are a reflection of the efforts made by States. India is among the very few nations which have state-specific rankings, which will, in turn, help the nation improve its ranking,” Goyal said.
Meanwhile, the World Bank has temporarily suspended the publication of its Ease of Doing Business report which ranked countries across the world for the business environment. The bank said that the move has been made in the view of “irregularities” in the reports. In 2020 ranking, countries such as India, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, and Nigeria made tremendous progress to improve their positions.
The ease of business rankings were introduced in 2014, ranking states and union territories based on the reforms undertaken by them on designated parameters. According to the government, the idea is to “create a conducive business environment by streamlining regulatory structures and creating an investor-friendly business climate by cutting down red tape.
