Ease of biz rankings: Andhra tops the list, Maharashtra trails at 13

The state of Andhra Pradesh is ranked number one in the ease of doing business (EoDB) index for states, 2018 with 98.42 per cent in the Combined Scorecard of Reform Evidence and Feedback. Telangana, newest state of the country, is ranked at number two with 98.33 percent in the list, followed by Haryana at number three (98.07%), Jharkhand at number four (97.99%) and Gujarat at number five (97.96%) respectively.

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh scored 97.36 percent and 97.31 percent each and are placed at number 6th and 7th respectively. Karnataka which underwent a controversial election in the month of May, is ranked at number 8th 96.40 per cent. Rajasthan is on the 9th place with a percentage score of 95.68. West Bengal somehow managed to be within the top 10 by scoring 94.70 percent thus climibing to 10th position as compared to the 15th position that it had achieved in 2016.

“A large number of states have made significant progress in reforms suggested in BRAP 2017,” the government said. It may be recalled that on January 1, 2018, 267 parameters have been adjudicated, and 102 were found to be evaluated, as per the updated website details on January 1. States have been evaluated and ranked on how well they implement business reforms – 405 recommendations were set out by the government last year

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The report has thrown up surprising results with Maharashtra, often touted as India’s most industrialised state – led by the bustling financial capital of Mumbai – ranked 13th with a score of 92.71 percent.
While, union territory Delhi has been ranked 23, dropping from 19 in 2016 with 31.60 per cent score in Combined Scorecard of Reform Evidence and Feedback.

North-eastern states except Assam continue to remain at the bottom of the heap, underlining the urgency of immediate policy interventions to turn these states into business-friendly destinations.

The rankings, jointly prepared by the World Bank and DIPP, serve as a check-list of sorts for evaluating states on Business Reform Action Plan, between the period of July, 2016 and July, 2018.

The idea behind ranking states is to induce competition to attract investment and improve the business climate. In addition, these rankings indicate that the states have the potential to attract business and undertake various reforms that are being undertaken by the Centre.

The official website for the survey results is https://eodb.dipp.gov.in/