‘Ease of Doing Business’ index: India will soon break into top 50, says Modi

India is just a few steps away from breaking into the top 50 of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

“About four or four-and-a-half years ago, when I said for the first time that in the next few years we will be in the top 50, a lot of people found it beyond their imagination…In the last four years we have moved from 142nd position in the index to 77. We are half way through (to achieving the goal). This is a record for any country,” Modi said at a meeting with top industrialists and policy makers on Monday.

The participants were brainstorming on measures required to rise up further in the World Bank’s index and reach top 50.

Modi pointed that the country had to move soon to the $5-trillion economy club. “To achieve this, we have to improve all sectors of our economy and have to take note that the definitions of all sectors are also changing,” he said. He pointed out that new technology, artificial intelligence and IT had become an important part of the manufacturing ecosystem.

The Prime Minister congratulated government officials and industrialists for bringing about reforms that led to the phenomenal increase in India’s ranking.

Modi said the government will now work to bring ‘Ease of Doing Business’ reforms at the district level. “We are holding consultations with stakeholders, including States, to determine how to achieve reforms at the district level,” he said.

The government is also trying to start ranking districts to imbibe a spirit of competition in them, Modi added.

The meeting, organised by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, was attended by all senior Ministers, including Finance Ministry Arun Jaitley and Commerce & Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu. Top industrialists, including Anand Mahindra, BK Goenka and Rakesh Mittal attended the meeting.

Pointing out ways in which India’s ranking could improve, Assocham President BK Goenka said that the problem related to availability of land could be streamlined by aggressively digitising land records and making land laws uniform across the country. He said enforcement of contracts was another area where India could improve. “The move to set up commercial courts pan-India will get us huge improvement on this issue,” he said.

Grand challenge

Modi also launched the Ease of Doing Business Grand Challenge at an event in Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi. The objective of this challenge is to invite innovative ideas based on Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, big data analytics, blockchain and other cutting edge technology to reform Government processes. The platform for the Grand Challenge is the Start-up India Portal.

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