Aiming to enhance the country’s image as a friendly investment destination, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion with technical assistance from the World Bank, consultancy firm KPMG, and CII and FICCI has released a state-wise report on the ease of doing business in which Gujarat has topped with a score of 71.14%.
The report assesses implementation status of 98-point reform measures across the following eight areas
- Setting up a business
- Allotment of land and obtaining construction permit
- Complying with environment procedures
- Complying with labour regulations
- Obtaining infrastructure related utilities
- Registering and complying with tax procedures
- Carrying out inspections
- Enforcing contracts
States assessment
- Gujarat topped the category of complying with environmental procedures.
- Aspiring leaders title states (50% – 75%) – Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Rajasthan
- Punjab leads in the area of setting up a business
- Maharashtra was ranked highest in obtaining infrastructure-related utilities
- Karnataka received the highest score on registering and complying with tax procedures
- Jharkhand led the field in carrying out inspections
The report would give potential investors an idea of the environment prevailing in different States and is also aimed at helping the states identify areas they need to improve in.
The exercise is part of the Centre’s efforts to improve the country’s ranking in the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ report, where it was placed a poor 142 among 189 countries in 2015.