New Delhi, October 31 (PTI): India has jumped 23 places to the 77th position in the World Bank's 'ease of doing business' ranking released on Wednesday, a development that could help the country attract more foreign investments.
India was ranked 100th in the World Bank's Doing Business Report last year.
The ranking comes as a shot in the arm for the Narendra Modi government which faces strong dissenting voices from opposition parties ahead of the general elections next year.
In its annual report 'Doing Business' 2019 report, World Bank said India improved on six of the 10 parameters relating to starting and doing business in a country.
These parameters include ease of starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.
India was ranked at the 142nd position among 190 nations when the Modi government came to power in 2014. It rose to 100th spot in the last ranking from the 131st rank in the previous year.
New Zealand topped the list of 190 countries in ease of doing business, followed by Singapore, Denmark, and Hong Kong.
The United States is placed eight and China has been ranked 46th. Neighbouring Pakistan is placed at 136.
World Bank put India among the top 10 economies to make the most improvements.
India certainly not a 'tariff king', says World Bank official on Trump's remarks
The World Bank does not agree with United States President Donald Trump's claim that India is a "tariff king" and feels that the Indian taxation system and economy is much more liberalised than it was a few decades ago, a top official of the international financial institution said Wednesday.
Earlier this month, Trump described India as a "tariff king" as he reiterated his allegations that New Delhi has a high tariff rate on various American goods.
"That (India being a tariff king) certainly is not what we find in our data," Shanta Devarajan, the World Bank's Senior Director for Development Economics and Acting Chief Economist, told PTI in an interview when asked about Trump's statement.
"India has some tariffs, but by no means it's not (tariff) king," said Devarajan, who earlier was chief economist for South Asia at the World Bank.
Even in South Asia India did not have the highest tariffs, he said referring to the experience he had in his previous capacity in the World Bank.
"And they (tariffs in India) have come down quite a bit since then," he said.
Liberalisation of the Indian economy is showing results, he said.
"Tariffs were very high in 1991, when they liberalised and they found that actually the economy boomed. That has helped to build political support for further reforms, Devarajan said.
India can crack into top 50: Jaitley on ease of biz ranking
Buoyed by a 23-place jump on World Bank's ease of doing business ranking, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Wednesday said India can crack into top 50 if it improves on time taken for registering real estate, starting business and enforcement of contracts.
Addressing a news conference soon after the World Bank released its 2019 ranking, Jaitley said areas that require improvement include time taken for registering property, starting business, insolvency and taxation, and enforcement of contract areas.
The BJP-led government, since coming to the power, has reduced red-tape and corruption, and its reforms have ensured India jumps ranks from 142 to 77, he said.
Improvements have already done on enforcement of contracts, taxation and insolvency laws and would be reflected in future rankings, he said.
Jaitley said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had soon after coming to power in 2014 set a target of breaking into top 50 and it seems probable if improvements are done on time taken to start business, registering property, enforcement of contracts, paying taxes and insolvency laws.
