Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman released the report on State-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings on Monday.
The rankings are on the basis of 340-point business reform action plan and their implementation by the States. This covers the period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
Andhra Pradesh and Telengana topped the all-India ranking with 98.78 per cent each, followed by Gujarat with 98.21 per cent; Chhattisgarh with 97.32 per cent and Madhya Pradesh with 97.01 per cent.
Haryana ranked sixth with 96.95 per cent followed by Jharkhand with 96.57 per cent; Rajasthan with 96.43 per cent; Uttarakhand with 96.13 per cent and Maharashtra completed the top 10 with 92.86 per cent.
At least 32 States and Union Territories submitted evidence of implementation of 7,124 reforms. These submissions were reviewed by the World Bank team and validated by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion's (DIPP’s) team.
Gujarat slipped to third position from the first rank last year. The national implementation average stands at 48.93 per cent, significantly higher than last year's national average of 32 per cent, according to a DIPP statement. This demonstrates the great progress made by States this year, said the statement.
The laggards falling in the “jump start needed” category with an implementation percentage of 0-40 per cent include Kerala, Goa, Tripura, Daman and Diu, Assam, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Puducherry, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Meghalaya , Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Lakshadweep.
Ms. Sitharaman said that the govt is se to launch a new index on “agricultural marketing & farm-friendly reforms” this year. “We are looking at broad-basing the reform drive,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
“There is a healthy competition among States on ease of doing business index,” she noted, adding that “these indices are important aspects in the government's agenda to transform India.”
While last year only seven States had implemented over 50 per cent of the total reform points and no State had an implementation percentage of over 75%, this year 17 States crossed the 50 per cent implementation mark and 16 states have an implementation percentage of over 75 per cent.
The top 10 States scoring on the agricultural marketing & farmer-friendly reforms index are: Maharashtra with 81.7 per cent, followed by Gujarat with 71.5 per cent; Rajasthan with 70 per cent; MP with 69.5 per cent; Haryana with 63.3 per cent; Himachal Pradesh with 59.5 per cent; A.P. with 56.2 per cent; Karnataka with 55.5 per cent; Telengana with 54.3 per cent and Goa with 52.8 per cent.
