7 states among top achievers in ‘Ease of Doing Business’ ranking: Report

According to the commerce ministry, Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) report includes 301 reform points that cover 15 business regulatory areas like access to information, single window system, labour, environment, sectoral reforms and other reforms spanning the life cycle of a typical business.

Seven states - Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab, Telangana and Tamil Nadu - were categorised as 'top achievers' in the Ease of Doing Business ranking of states and union territories, according to the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2020 report released by Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday.

Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman releases assessment report of the States and Union Territories under (BRAP)  2020 in presence of Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal. (Twitter/@nsitharamanoffc)

Addressing the event, Sitharaman said, "The ease of doing business today (has) seen a lot of right changes and adaptations which were required for understanding what is happening for business on the ground." The minister also said she was glad to see that year after year, newer ways were being brought to make the ranking a lot more real-time and robust.

She pointed out that states believe in healthy competition among themselves and they are not averse to the system of being rated in some way.

Twenty other states/union territories have institutionalised the Central Inspection System and have fully developed online systems and enhanced service delivery for improving ease of doing business, Sitharaman later tweeted.

The BRAP report also showed that six states - Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura, Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir - were 'emerging business ecosystems'.

Seven states - Goa, Assam, Kerala, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bengal - were categorised as 'Aspirers'.

According to the commerce ministry, BRAP report includes 301 reform points that cover 15 business regulatory areas like access to information, single window system, labour, environment, sectoral reforms and other reforms spanning the life cycle of a typical business.

Sectoral reforms were introduced for the first time in BRAP 2020 wherein 72 reforms were identified across nine sectors, namely, trade licence, healthcare, legal metrology, cinema halls, hospitality, fire NOC, telecom, movie shooting and tourism, the ministry added.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal said that back in 2014 prime minister Narendra Modi had highlighted that while the government was working on the international front to gett recognition for ease of doing business through World Bank rankings, it should also involve all stakeholders, particularly states and UTs, to get them on board.

"Rather than ease of doing business being limited to few areas, few cities, few businesses, we are seeing that being reflected across the country through the spirit of corporate federalism, collaboration and competition," Goyal added.