In a list prepared by the World Bank with the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on the ease of doing business, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana jointly topped the rankings for 2015-16. Last year’s topper, Gujarat, slipped to third position.
Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released the report on Monday. The rankings are on the basis of 340-point business reform action plan and their implementation by the States. This covers the period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana occupied the fourth, fifth and sixth slots in the index based on the degree of implementation of the government’s 340-point Business Reform Action Plan.
The Action Plan includes reforms on 58 regulatory processes, policies, practices or procedures spread across 10 reform areas spanning the lifecycle of a typical business. These are mainly single window clearance, tax reforms, labour and environment reforms, dispute resolution and construction permit.
At least 32 States and Union Territories submitted evidence of implementation of 7,124 reforms. These submissions were reviewed by the World Bank team and validated by the DIPP’s team. A total of 6,069 reforms were approved as having been implemented.
The exercise is aimed at promoting competition among states with a view to improve business climate to attract domestic as well as foreign investments.
