India is ready to burn the midnight oil to be among top 30 nations in ease of doing business index

India has aimed to climb into the top 30 countries of the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings in three years and sought help from the World Bank to achieve the same.

The country is working hard to break into the top 100 in this year's list, which will be released soon. To discuss this matter, the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has recently held a meeting, reported the Economic Times.

The DIPP will release its own ease of doing business rankings for states by August 15. It will assess states on seven parameters, including setting up of a business, allotment of land and obtaining construction permit, complying with labour regulations and environment procedures and obtaining infrastructure-related utilities.

"We have started preparing the road map to push India further up the rankings next year," a senior government official told the financial daily.

"The session was conducted to identify what India needs to do more and with timelines after interaction with the stakeholders. The target is to break into the top 30 in the next three years," he said.

India was ranked 142nd out of 189 countries - below Sri Lanka and Pakistan - in the World Bank's ease of doing business rankings benchmarked to June 2014.

The list is based on 10 parameters such as starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, paying taxes, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

A World Bank team that met central and state government officials on Monday signaled that enforcing contracts is a key area of concern for India. World Bank's India Director Onno Ruhl was also present in the meeting.

The government and World Bank took stock of progress on reforms related to construction permits in Mumbai and New Delhi, getting an electricity connection and doing business. The government looked at global best practices in key areas that could be adopted in India.

The official told ET: "The challenges are on two issues essentially — one is enforcement of contracts, where the judiciary needs to take action, and the other is the insolvency law, which the TK Viswanathan committee is working on."

When it comes to enforcement of contracts, the World Bank follows the evolution of a sale of a goods dispute, tracking the time, cost and number of procedures involved from the moment the plaintiff files a lawsuit until actual payment. India requires 1,420 days and 46 procedures in enforcement of contracts and is ranked 186 on this count.

On the overall ranking in the current year, the official said, "We expect India to emerge as the biggest reformer with a substantial improvement in our rankings. We have done what best was possible in the last eight months. In fact, the work has already started for next year," he said.

In resolving insolvencies, India is ranked 137. The government has set up a committee last year on bankruptcy law reform chaired by former law secretary TK Viswanathan, which released its interim report earlier this year. The report will form the basis for a new law on bankruptcy and look at corporate insolvency in the country.

Foreign direct investment inflows into India more than doubled to $3.6 billion in April from $1.7 billion a year earlier and increased 71% from the previous month.

Among steps taken to improve ease of doing business in the country are the withdrawal of the requirement of minimum paid-up capital and common seal for companies, allowing single-step incorporation of companies and integration of 14 government services on an online single-window portal.

Cross-border trade has been made easier by cutting the number of forms for export and import to three from seven and nine, respectively.

(Image: Indiatimes)