Andhra Pradesh tops ease of doing business rankings again, Telangana at 3rd rank
Andhra Pradesh topped the ease of doing business rankings for 2019, second time in a row followed by Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. According to the Centre, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were the best performing states when it came to attracting investments. This year, UP moved up 10 ranks to beat Telangana to the second spot. Delhi ranked highest among union territories.
Madhya Pradesh came fourth, followed by Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal.
Last year, Andhra Pradesh came first, while Telangana stood second. Among other southern states, Tamil Nadu ranked 14, up from 15 last year, while Karnataka slipped from the 8th rank in 2018 to 17th in 2019. Kerala stood at 28, 7 ranks down from 21 last year.
The ease of business rankings were introduced in 2014, ranking states and union territories based on the reforms undertaken by them on designated parameters. According to the government, the idea is to “create a conducive business environment by streamlining regulatory structures and creating an investor-friendly business climate by cutting down red tape.”
Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that PM Modi says that the strength of India lies in the states
“We all believe that that this cooperation on one hand and competition on the other will collectively drive the nation faster towards a $5 trillion economy by 2025,” he added.
He also said that the ranking is based on implementation of business reform action plan.
The Business Reform Action Plan 2019 released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and internal Trade (DPIIT) contains a list of 80 reforms and 187 reform action points to be implemented by 19 state departments.
In a media statement, Andhra Pradesh said that it has achieved 100% compliance to the 187 reform action points by DPIIT-World Bank as a part of BRAP 2019.
Outlining some of the new reforms put in place by the state as part of BRAP, it said that the state exempted all shops and establishments from renewal under AP Shops & Establishments Act,1988, introduced Single Integrated returns under all labour laws, among others.
Interestingly, last week, the World Bank has “paused” the publication of the Doing Business Report saying that a number of irregularities have been reported regarding changes to the data in the 'Doing Business' 2018 and 2020 reports published in October 2017 and 2019.
India’s ease of doing business rankings also come at a time when several non-BJP-ruled states have been locking horns with the Centre over delayed GST compensation. Several states have rejected the proposal put forward by the Centre that states borrow to meet the revenue shortfall.