                Andhra Pradesh and Telangana have jointly topped the ease of doing business ranking in the list prepared by the World Bank and the Indian government’s department of industrial policy and promotion for 2016.
About Ease of Doing Business Index :
Gujarat has slipped to the third position in the list and Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana occupied the fourth, fifth and sixth slots in the index based on the degree of implementation of the government’s 340-point Business Reform Action Plan.
- It is noted that Last year, only seven states implemented more than 50% of the reforms proposed. This year, 17 have implemented more than 50% of the 340 reforms listed by DIPP.
- States have created a dedicated body as a one-stop system for state-level regulatory and fiscal incentives approvals for single-window clearances.
- The states have also made good progress in tax reforms by mandating e-registration for value-added tax, central sales tax, and other such, and by allowing online payment and tax return filing.
- The results of the assessment demonstrate states have increasingly risen to addressing the challenge of making it easier to do business. The national implementation average stands at 48.93%, significantly higher than last year’s average of 32%.
About Andhra and Telangana :
Andhra Pradesh is one of the 29 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of the country. The state is the eighth largest state in India covering an area of 160,205 km2 (61,855 sq mi).
- As per 2011 census of India, the state is tenth largest by population with 49,386,799 inhabitants. On 2 June 2014, the north-western portion of the state was bifurcated to form a new state of Telangana.
- In accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad will remain the de jure capital of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states for a period of time not exceeding 10 years. The new river-front proposed capital in Guntur district is Amaravati, which is under the jurisdiction of APCRDA.
- There are two regions in the state namely Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. These two regions comprise 13 districts, with 9 in Coastal Andhra and 4 in Rayalaseema. Visakhapatnam is the largest city and a commercial hub of the state with a GDP of $26 billion followed by Vijayawada with a GDP of $3 billion as of 2010.
- Telangana is one of the 29 states in India, located in southern India. Telangana has an area of 112,077 square kilometres (43,273 sq mi), and a population of 35,193,978 (2011 census).
- Making it the twelfth largest state in India, and the twelfth most populated state in India. Its major cities  include Hyderabad, Warangal,  Nizamabad,  Khammam and Karimnagar. Telangana is bordered by the states of Maharashtra to the north and north west, Chhattisgarh to the north, Karnataka to the west, and Andhra Pradesh to the east and south.
- Telangana acquired its identity as the Telugu-speaking region of the princely state of Hyderabad, ruled by the Nizam of Hyderabad, joining the Union of India in 1948.
- In 1956, the Hyderabad state was dissolved as part of the linguistic reorganisation of states and Telangana was merged with former Andhra State to form Andhra Pradesh. Following a movement for separation, it was awarded separate statehood on 2 June 2014
