State-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings released

Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on 31 October 2016 released State-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings in New Delhi. Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have topped the list in the Ease of Doing Business rankings.

The rankings are on the basis of 340-point Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) for States/UTs 2015-16 and their implementation by the States. BRAP covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. It includes recommendations for reforms on 58 regulatory processes, policies, practices or procedures spread across 10 reform areas spanning the lifecycle of a typical business.

Andhra Pradesh and Telengana topped the all-India ranking with 98.78 per cent each, followed by Gujarat with 98.21 per cent, Chhattisgarh with 97.32 per cent and Madhya Pradesh with 97.01 per cent. Gujarat has slipped to third position from the first rank of 2015.

Process involved for Ranking

•    Data for this assessment was collected from State Governments on the BRAP portal.

•    The portal, among the first of its kind globally, allowed State Governments to submit evidence of implemented reforms.

•    All state and UT Governments submitted evidence of implementation of 7124 reforms.

•    These submissions were reviewed by the World Bank team and validated by DIPP’s team to study whether they met the objectives of the BRAP.

•    The portal allowed for collaborative dialogue between DIPP and the State Governments in finalizing the evidence submitted.

•    A total of 6069 reforms were approved as implemented or not applicable on the portal.

•    The results of the assessment demonstrate that States have increasingly risen to addressing the challenge of making it easier to do business.

2016 Rank

•    The national implementation average stands at 48.93%, significantly higher than last year’s national average of 32%. This demonstrates the great progress made by States this year.

The final rank of the States is shown in the table below

Based on implementation of reforms, States have been divided into four categories

Reforms on basis of which rankings were granted includes single window systems, tax reforms, construction permits, environment and labour reforms, inspection reforms and commercial disputes and paper-less courts.