Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that ease of doing business leads to ease of life, ANI reported. He was speaking at a conference on “India’s Business Reforms” in New Delhi.
Modi congratulated everyone who had worked towards bettering India’s performance in the World bank’s latest report on Ease of Doing Business. India was ranked 100th among 190 countries in the global list for 2018, jumping 30 spots.
Modi said the World Bank has recognised India’s “stupendous work” and added, “India has reached a position from where it is easier to improve further”. He also said, “India is moving towards becoming a knowledge based, skill developed & technology driven economy.”
Modi also criticised the Congress for attacking the government over the rankings. He said that those who had earlier worked with the World Bank are now questioning India’s ranking. “Instead of questioning the ranking on the respective World Bank index, we should strive towards making India a better nation,” he added.
The prime minister further appreciated the World bank’s decision to focus the report on jobs, and said, “We are a young country and job creation is an opportunity as well as a challenge.”
The meeting was also attended by Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva.
The prime minister was referring to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s statement that there was no ease of doing business in India. He had criticised both Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, accusing them of destroying the country’s economy.
“India needs a certificate from the country, and the people of the country are saying Modi and Jaitley have failed,” Gandhi had said. “Yesterday, Arun Jaitley said some foreign organisation has certified that India has considerably improved in ease of doing business. Is he living in real or a dream world?”
The World Bank report released on Tuesday said that India was among the “top 10 improvers” in the 2018 rankings because it has implemented reforms in eight of the 10 indicators. However, India stood at a low 156 on the parameter of starting a business, and 181st on granting construction permits in the report. It came in 119th in paying taxes, 164th for enforcing contracts and 103rd in resolving insolvency cases.
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