An Analysis of the Reasons for India's Low Rank in the Ease of Doing Business and Steps Being taken to Improve it

Ease of doing business is an index published by the World Bank and economies are ranked on their ease of doing business, from 1190. Ever since the Modi government came into power in 2014, improving the ease of doing business in India has been a priority of the government and several steps such as bringing in the Companies (Amendment) Act 2015, liberalising FDI in various sectors, etc. have been taken in this regard. However, the 2017 EDB report saw very few improvements in the rankings with the overall ranking improving only by one place as compared to 2016 and the rankings in problematic areas such as dealing with construction permits, getting credit and resolving insolvency actually worsening. At present Indias overall EDB ranking is 130. This paper examines the reasons behind India still lagging in the EDB rankings while conducting a comparative analysis between India, the other developing nations and the leading countries in the different parameters. The primary objective is to understand the problematic areas better and to conceive solutions. It also describes the various steps taken by the government that are likely to improve the rankings and suggests changes that could help expedite the process.