NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh has once secured the top position in ease of doing business ranking 2019, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, said the government on Saturday.
Releasing the ‘State of Business Reform Action Plan Ranking’, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the foreign investors are taking India’s reforms push seriously, which is evident in the FDI inflow during the global pandemic.
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India between April and July stood at $20 billion, driven mainly by
Mukesh Ambani’s fundraising for Jio Platforms Ltd. She also expressed the reform measures taken by the state governments.
“Some states have shown extraordinary energy in putting together action plans and making sure that reforms happen. States have embraced the true spirit behind the State Business Reforms Action Plan,” Sitharaman said.
The top ten best performing states are Andhra Pradesh, UP, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Gujarat.Among the five demarcated zones — Uttar Pradesh topped the ranking from North India, Jharkhand from East, Madhya Pradesh from the West, Andhra Pradesh from South, and Assam from North East.
Among Union Territories, Delhi got the top spot.
Parameters for the rankings include areas construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability as well as single-window system. The rankings were scheduled to be announced in March, but had to be delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The virtual function was attended by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
“The central government has been making efforts to streamline business regulation through a single-window system, labour law reforms, reforms in Disputes Act etc. to make doing business quick and economical,” said Goyal.
Telangana slips
In the last ranking released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh had topped the chart, followed by Telangana and Haryana. This year, UP moved up 10 ranks to beat Telangana to the second spot.