India has leapfrogged 23 points in the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking to 77th place, becoming the top-ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among the BRICS. 

India and China have emerged as the two large economies which are among the ten most prominent reformers among 190 countries. New Zealand, Singapore and Denmark were on top of the list. Among the BRICS countries, Russia and China were ranked higher. 

In the past two years, India has climbed 53 points. It is reported that the sharp jump in India’s ranking is prominently driven by construction permit where India jumped 129 ranks to 52nd place on the back of targeted government effort to remove hurdles. In dealing with construction permits, India has implemented an online single window system, introduced deemed approvals and reduced the cost for obtaining these permits. In the electricity sector, the time taken for getting a new connection has decreased from 105 to 55 days. For resolving insolvency, India has put in place a new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code and time-bound reorganization procedure for corporate debtors. 

The report also highlighted that India now stands in the top 25 in the world on three indicators which are- getting electricity, getting credit and protecting minority investors, department of industrial policy and promotion.

The World Bank has acknowledged India as one of the top improvers for the year. This year, India features among the report’s list of top 10 improvers for the second year in a row. India is one of only nine countries around the world and only one in BRICS to feature in this list.