NITI CEO Amitabh Kant hails PM Modi on India improving EODB ranking

Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog, on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for India climbing up 14 places in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business rankings. "Big Congratulations to PM @narendramodi for his immense focus on making #India easy & simple. India jumps up 14 positions in #WorldBank #EODB Only large country to jump 79 positions overall in last 4 years. It is now at 63 rank. Phenomenal achievement!Congrats #DPIIT ! Brilliant!"

Amitabh Kant has been a key policymaker in the NITI Aayog which is a high-level government think tank headed by the Prime Minister. Kant has been instrumental in structuring of economic and developmental policies of the Narendra Modi government. An IAS officer of 1980 batch, Kant took charge of his new position in June 2019, soon after NDA 2 came to power.

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Jump of 14 places

The World Bank Report divides the rankings and has given various sub-categories. India ranks in the following ranks: Starting a business is 136, Dealing Construction Permits is 27, Getting Electricity is 22, Registering Property is 154, Getting Credit is 25, Paying Taxes is 115, Trading Across Borders is 68, Enforcing Contracts is 163 and Resolving Insolvency is 52.

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The report also listed the reforms made by the country which has helped jump in the overall rankings. It states four major points -  Starting a business, Dealing with Construction Business, Trading across borders, Resolving Insolvency. Under Starting a Business, the report said, India made starting a business easier by abolishing filing fees for the SPICe company incorporation form, electronic memorandum of association and articles of association. This reform applies to both Delhi and Mumbai. Under Construction Permits, the report said, India (Delhi) streamlined the process, reduced the time and cost of obtaining construction permits and improved building quality control by strengthening professional certification requirements.

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India (Mumbai) streamlined the process of obtaining a building permit and made it faster and less expensive to get a construction permit. Under Trading across Borders, the report read, India made trading across borders easier by enabling post-clearance audits, integrating trade stakeholders in a single electronic platform, upgrading port infrastructures and enhancing the electronic submission of documents. This reform applies to both Mumbai and New Delhi.

In the final category of Resolving Insolvency, the report said, India made resolving insolvency easier by promoting reorganization proceedings in practice. India also made resolving insolvency more difficult by not allowing dissenting creditors to receive as much under reorganisation as they would receive in liquidation. This reform applies to both Delhi and Mumbai.

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Government in reform mode

The Indian Government is currently dealing with an economic slowdown, but the government has been taking measures to pull the economy out of the slowdown and boost the economy. Recently, the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cut the Corporate Tax, which has been a big boost for the firms and the government has also been taking steps to make the changes to the GST rates. This comes after several proposals of the Union Budget like an enhanced surcharge on capital gains were rolled back.