India has jumped by only one spot to rank at 130 out of 190 countries in the World Bank Group’s ease of doing business report. India’s showed a dip in performance on seven of the 10 parameters measured by the report – ‘Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All’ – compared with last year, the Business Standard reported on Tuesday.
This makes India the lowest-ranked country among the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) nations. Russia is placed at 40, South Africa at 74, China at 78 and Brazil at 123. However, the World Bank recognised New Delhi’s efforts in adopting a “fast-paced reform path”, according to The Economic Times. The report further said it acknowledged a “number of substantial improvements” by the central government, including in areas such as electricity connections and the payment of taxes.
Officials said the Narendra Modi-led government was addressing the areas where the country was not performing well. “Many of our reforms have not been recognised by them [the World Bank Group],” an official said. “In many areas we are getting closer to [the] best practices.”
The country had ranked 130th on the World Bank's report for 2016, jumping 12 places to reach that spot, but was later downgraded to 131. This year’s ranking comes even as the government has expressed confidence in its reforms path. While the country’s economy is expected to grow by 7.6% in 2016-’17, issues such as long judicial processes, reforms to the country’s tax regime as well as land and labour laws remain obstacles to Modi’s aim of making India break into the top 50 ranks on the report.
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