India vies for spot in top 100 of Ease of Business index

India is hoping to make it to the top 100 countries  this year for the first time as the World Bank is expected to release its 2018 edition of the Ease of Doing Business index on Tuesday.

Govt officials said that they expect the country to move up in the rating due to recent reforms, including the three big ones - Goods and Services Tax (GST), the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, and simple rules that govern starting a business.

The World Bank created the index to measure regulations that directly affect businesses and overall environment such as market situations, infrastructure, inflation, and crime.

New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark were the top three countries in the last report while India performed poorly on the index rising just one rank to 130 in 2017 from 131 in 2016.

Since then, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked the ministries to work towards improving India's rank in ease of doing business. 
Despite the technical glitches in filing of returns under the GST, it is rated as one of the biggest reforms in India's history aimed at "one nation, one tax."

A single taxation system was supposed to signal ease of business for international companies who were put off by the country's red tape.

Similarly, the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, was billed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as a clean-up measure that would enable investors and banks to take action against failed companies to recover their money.

On the rules for starting businesses, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry speeded up clearances for global players to register and establish their businesses in India.

Asked whether the country was hopeful of moving up on the ranking, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu said there could be a good news soon. 
in 2017, India's score on the World Bank's 'distance to frontier' moved to 55.27 from 48.77 in 2010.

Source : Deccanherald.com