India was ranked 97th out of 144 countries on Forbes's list of best countries for business. Denmark topped the list, while the United States dropped four spots to 22. India ranked behind countries like Ghana and Kazakhstan, scoring low on trade, monetary freedom, and tackling corruption and violence.

Forbes said while India is developing an open-market economy, traces of "autarkic politics", or self-sufficient politics, remain. It added that the outlook for India's long-term growth is moderately positive due to a young population and corresponding low dependency ratio, healthy savings and investment rates, and increasing integration into the global economy, reported PTI.

However, it also said that India faces many challenges, such as high spending and poorly-targeted subsidies, inadequate availability of quality basic and higher education, and accommodating rural-to-urban migration. Other challenges that need to be addressed according to Forbes include poverty, corruption, violence and discrimination against women.