Doing Business Report Released by the World Bank 

The World Bank (WB) has released its latest edition : Doing Business Report (DBR) on 31 October 2018.

The highlight of the report is that India has recorded a jump of 23 positions, to be ranked at 77 among 190 countries assessed by the World Bank.  India has improved its score in 6 out of 10 indicators, moving closer to international best practice on 7 out of 10. 

The most impressive performance has been registered on indicators related to “construction permits” and “trading across borders”.

The leap of 23 ranks in the ranking this year is particularly significant considering that only last year India had improved its rank by 30 places.   Overall, in the last two years, India has improved its rank by 53 positions and 65 positions since 2014.  This is a rare feat for any large country of India's size.

For the second consecutive year, the World Bank has recognised India as one of the top improvers.  India is the first BRICS and South Asian country to be recognised as such in consecutive years.

One of the main factors leading to the significant improvement in ranking is a strong commitment by the Government to carry out comprehensive and complex reforms, including the change in mindset of the bureaucracy from a regulatory to a facilitator. The reform process is an ongoing one and the aim of the Government is to break into the top 50 ranking by next year.

Some of the leading reform measures that have helped improve India's position including but not limited to are :

1) Goods and Services Tax;

2) The Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill intended to speed up arbitration and commercial disputes, transparently;

3) Launch of Ease of Doing Business ranking for Indian States with an aim to improving Government reforms and promote foreign and private trade and investment;

4)  Other  reform measures for private and foreign investment.

This reform process is an ongoing one, and the aim of the Government is to break into the top 50 by 2019.