New Delhi | Jagran Business Desk: India has made yet another big leap in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report, jumping 14 spots to grab the 63rd rank in the list. While the leap is quite big, it fails to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target of bringing India in the top 50 bracket. India also figured among the top 10 performers on the list for the time in a row.
This comes at a time when the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have slashed the country's growth forecasts due to a slowdown in the global economy.
When PM Modi entered the office in 2014, India was ranked at the 142nd position among 190 countries. Then in 2017, the country jumped to 130th position. Last year, India jumped 23 places to the 77th position on the back of reforms related to insolvency, taxation and other areas.
The World Bank, in its 'Doing Business' 2020 report, had commended the reform efforts undertaken by the country "given the size of India's economy".
"This is the third year in a row that India makes to top 10 in Doing Business, which is a success which very few countries have done over the 20 years of the project, Without exception, the other countries that have done this are very small, population-wise, and homogeneous," Simeon Djankov, Director of Development Economics at the World bank told news agency PTI in an interview.
"India is the first country of its type to achieve that. It has jumped this year by 14 position," he said.
The World Bank, in its report, also said that PM Modi's 'Make in India' campaign focused on attracting foreign investment, boosting the private sector — manufacturing in particular — and enhancing the country's overall competitiveness.
The government turned to the Doing Business indicators to show investors India's commitment to reform and to demonstrate tangible progress. In 2015, the government's goal was to join the 50 top economies on the ease of doing business ranking by 2020.
"The administration's reform efforts targeted all of the areas measured by Doing Business, with a focus on paying taxes, trading across borders, and resolving insolvency. The country has made a substantial leap upward, raising its ease of doing business ranking from 130 in Doing Business 2016 to 63 in Doing Business 2020,” the report said.
"Before the implementation of the reform, it was very burdensome for secured creditors to seize companies in default of their loans," the report further said.
"Since its implementation, more than 2,000 companies have used the new law. Of these, about 470 have commenced liquidation and more than 120 have approved reorganization plans, with the remaining cases still pending," it added.
In the past, foreclosure was the most common procedure reported by legal practitioners in both Delhi and Mumbai under the case study assumptions measured by the resolving insolvency indicator set, with an approximate duration of 4.3 years, the report said.
"Reorganization has become the most likely procedure for viable companies as measured by Doing Business, increasing the overall recovery rate from 27 to 72 cents on the dollar," the bank said.
"India made starting a business easier by abolishing filing fees for the SPICe (Simplified Proforma for Incorporating a Company Electronically) company incorporation form, electronic memorandum of association, and articles of association," the report added.
(With PTI inputs)
Posted By: Aalok Sensharma
