Telengana leads state wise ease of doing bussiness 

Telengana leads state wise ease of doing bussiness 

Context

• Telangana is currently atop the yearly state-wise ranking on assessment of implementation of the ‘Business Reforms Action Plan’ (BRAP) in 2017.
• The final ranking is likely to be released in January, 2018.

What is Business Reforms Action Plan?

• The complexity of regulatory processes and the difficulty in compliance has been cited as an impediment to the economic development.
• Government of India (GoI) has taken up a series of measures to simplify and rationalize the regulatory processes and introduction of information technology as enabler to make governance more efficient and effective.
• A 98-Point Action Plan for improving the regulatory framework for business as part of easing the doing business in the country was shared and finalized at National Workshop of ‘Make in India’ held on 29thDecember 2014.
• “Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms” was released in September 2015 capturing the findings after taking the stock of reforms implemented by States between the period 1st January 2015 to 30th June 2015.

Which are the top ranking states?

• Telangana was the joint topper with Andhra Pradesh, in the ranking last year. However, Andhra Pradesh (score of 18.01%) is currently ranked 14th.
• Gujarat, ranked third last year, is now number eight with a score of 41.94%
• Telangana (with an implementation score of 61.83%) is followed by Haryana (54.03%), Odisha (45.70%), Chhattisgarh (45.43%), and West Bengal (44.35%) completing the top five.

Can the rankings change with time?

• The ranking is dynamic and till they are frozen, these positions could change due to intense competition between States.
• This year’s assessment includes 372 reforms, up from 340 last year.

What are the areas of assessment?

• The broad areas of assessment this year include
• Paper-less courts
• Online single window system
• Online tax payment
• Contract enforcement
• Availability and allotment,
• Obtaining electricity and water connection
• Enablers for transparency, tax, labour regulation
• Construction permits
• Environmental registration commercial dispute resolution
• Online systems for property registration

How has India fared so far in the World Bank Group’s Doing Business report?

• This year’s report from the World Bank has been titled Reforming to Create Jobs.
• The report ranks India at 100 among 190 countries. Last year, India was ranked 130.
• India’s upward jump in ranking is based on the underlying improvement in the distance to frontier (DTF) score– an absolute measure of progress towards the best practice-in the report.

What is Ease of Doing Business Index?

• The Ease of doing business index is an index released by the World Bank Group in its Doing business report.
• Higher rankings indicate better, usually simpler, regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights.
• New Zealand has topped the Ease of Doing Business rankings in 2017.