Ease of doing business ranking: Andhra Pradesh tops again, check other gainers

The government on Saturday released ‘ease of doing business’ ranking for states and union territories for 2019 in which Andhra Pradesh retained top spot. Uttar Pradesh and Telanagan bagged the second and third positions respectively, according to a report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman which took into account the implementation of the business reform action plans in the respective states. The report has been prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). FM Sitharaman said that ranking the states and UTs helps them to perform better, she said while releasing the report. States are marked on the basis of construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single-window system.

In the previous rankings, Andhra Pradesh had topped the chart, followed by Telangana and Haryana. Several states have improved their rankings this year with Himachal Pradesh making it to top 10 spots while it was on 17th position in the previous rankings. “Some states have shown extraordinary energy in putting together action plans and making sure that reforms happen. States have embraced the true spirit behind the State Business Reforms Action Plan,” FM said while announcing the ranking. Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttarakhand have also improved their positions.

The Finance Minister lauded DPIIT’s work in maintaining consistently high standards for the rankings, on implementation of State Business Reforms Action Plan and improving the parameters of the rankings, especially in emphasis on responsiveness of states to ground-level inputs.

Meanwhile, the World Bank has temporarily suspended the publication of its Ease of Doing Business report which ranked countries across the world for 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.