Andhra Pradesh tops in ease of doing business ranking; Gujarat slips to 5th

Andhra Pradesh continues to be the best state to do business in the country while neighbouring Telegana has been ranked second with Haryana at the third spot, in the ease of doing business list prepared by the World Bank and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Gujarat has slipped further to the fifth rank in the ease of doing business.

In last year's ranking, Andhra Pradesh had jointly topped the chart with Telangana while Gujarat was relegated to the third position from the top slot in 2015. At the other extreme, Meghalaya, Lakshadweep and Arunachal Pradesh have been ranked at the bottom for not doing anything to improve business climate, according to the latest Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) index released on Tuesday.

"This time we have taken feedback from industry to see whether the reforms have percolated to the ground level," DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek said.

Next year 100 per cent evaluation would be done based on feedback from industry, he added.

He said implementation of reforms help attract both domestic and foreign investors. "Due to this exercise, states are competing with each other in improving business climate. The Indian economy would touch USD 10 trillion in the coming years and for that it is fundamental to make business more competitive," Abhishek added.

Other states in the top ten are Jharkhand (4), Chhattisgarh (6), Madhya Pradesh (7), Karnataka (8), Rajasthan (9) and West Bengal (10).

Delhi was ranked 23rd in the list while Punjab was at the 20th position, way behind neighbouring Haryana. An official statement said that a large number of states have made significant progress in reforms suggested in BRAP 2017.

The assessment is based on a combined score consisting of reform evidence score that is based on evidence uploaded by States/UTs and feedback score that is based on response gathered from actual users of services provided to businesses.

As many as 17 states achieved a reform evidence score of more than 90 per cent and 15 achieved a combined score of 90 per cent and more. The states which have achieved 80 per cent or more reforms evidence score represent 84 per cent of the country's area, 90 per cent of the country's population and 79 per cent of India's GDP.