India's rank jumps 14 places in World Bank's ease of doing business ranking.

In six years of the Narendra Modi government, India’s ranking improved 79 places from 142nd in 2014 to 63th in 2019, a record for a major economy

India climbed 14 rungs in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2020 survey to stand at 63, among 190 countries, making it the one of world’s top 10 most improved countries for the third consecutive time.

The sharp rise in the ranking underscores the reformist credentials of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government and may help the country lure multinational companies looking for investment destinations apart from China amid its ongoing trade war with the US.

Last year, India jumped 23 places to reach 77th position in the rankings. In six years of the Narendra Modi government, India’s ranking has improved 79 places from 142nd in 2014 to 63th in 2019, a record for a major economy.

The World Bank said India conducted four reforms in the 12-month period to May 1. “Among other improvements, India made the process of obtaining a building permit more efficient. Obtaining all permits and authorizations to build a warehouse now costs 4% of the warehouse value, down from 5.7% the previous year. In addition, authorities enhanced building quality control in Delhi by strengthening professional certification requirements. Importing and exporting also became easier for companies with the creation of a single electronic platform for trade stakeholders, upgrades to port infrastructure and improvements to electronic submission of documents," it added.

The Global Competitiveness Index, 2019, released by the World Economic Forum (WEF) earlier this month showed India’s ranking slipped a sharp 10 notches to 68. India’s score fell in eight of 12 parameters while other countries improved their domestic business environment faster than India. Iran (99) is the only other country of the 141 countries surveyed whose ranking also fell by 10 positions. (Source: Livemint)