India is upbeat about further improving its ranking in the World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’ index this year due to good performance on three parameters — trading across borders, paying taxes and resolving insolvency.
“We have taken a number of key steps in the three areas, including implementation of the Goods & Services Tax (GST), which is going to bear well for us,” an official in the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) said addressing reporters on Thursday.
Last year, India moved to the 100th position, up 30 places, due to better performance in some areas and also because of change in certain criteria of judgment.
This year, as part of the ‘ease of doing business’ initiatives, the Central Board of Excise & Customs has taken up implementation of the Single Window Interface for Trade (SWIFT) to facilitate trading across borders in India. ICEGATE, as a part of SWIFT, provides e-filing services to the trade and cargo carriers and other clients of the Customs & Central Excise Department.
The DIPP further pointed out that to provide convenience at all hours, 24X7 customs clearance facility has been made available at select ports. Electronic submission of all supporting documents for clearance of consignments, reducing the physical interface between government agencies and trading community has been enabled through the e-SANCHIT application.
With implementation of risk management system, more than 80 per cent of consignments get cleared without any inspection —leading to overall saving in dwell time, the official said.
Implementation of the GST is also expected to help India rise up the ranks in the parameter of payment of taxes, the DIPP is hopeful. Single returns for all payments, single payment and low cost of compliance is likely to fetch India more points.
Enactment of the Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code, implemented in line with international standards, will also go down well in the World Bank rating process, the official said.