How to Propel India Into Top 50 in Ease of Doing Business Rankings

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said that India could crack into the top 50 in the next two years.

While India’s “massive jump” in World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings demonstrates political will to reform, the country needs to do more to improve enforcement of contracts and fast-track construction permits, according to NITI Aayog chief Amitabh Kant.

“India fares very badly in enforcement of contracts,” Kant told BloombergQuint in an interview. Commercial cases take around 4.5 years to be settled and there are way too many adjournments, he added.

We need commercial courts, online registration of cases, and to ensure there are no adjournments after three adjournments. If we are able to do that then there is a big chance for a substantial jump.

Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog

Kant also said that getting construction permits, specifically in Mumbai and Delhi, is a “nightmare”.

The chief executive officer of government think-tank NITI Aayog said that if India’s current pace of reforms continue, it could crack into the top 50 in the next two years. That will attract "greater investments" and result in better jobs, and creation of wealth, he added.

Also Read: Post-GST India Will See Improvement in ‘Ease of Doing Business’

‘Utilise Low-Hanging Fruits’

For Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, low-hanging fruits like e-governance and online models will help improve rankings.

I am confident we can climb up 50 ranks next year if we focus on some of these areas that are very easy to do.

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairman And Managing Director, Biocon

Also Read: Explainer: What Improved India’s Ease of Doing Business?

Incorporating GST

Shubhada Rao, chief economist at Yes Bank said that while land and labour reforms remain unfinished business, incorporation of the benefits of the Goods and Services Tax could have strengthened India’s position further.

We needed to bring in GST on board. The imperfections can be sorted out later but it was very important to bring the biggest reform in decades on board, so long as the government has been responsive to remove glitches and addresses concerns. We will see a faster implementation of a smoother GST aid businesses.

Shubhada Rao, Chief Economist, Yes Bank

(This article was published in BloombergQuint and has been republished with permission.)

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