Reacting to Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi’s jibe directed at India’s new rank in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2018, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said the NDA government had replaced the previous UPA regime’s ‘ease of corruption’ with business.
India’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2018 improved from 130 last year to 100, Arun Jaitley said in a press conference on Tuesday, 31 October.
The Finance Minister said that the jump in the World Bank index is an indication of the positive effect of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic reforms. Citing the report, Jaitley said, “India has taken structural reforms.”
India is "one of the top 10 improvers in this year's assessment, having implemented reforms in 8 out of 10 'doing business' indicators," a World Bank statement said. This is the first time India has broken into the top 100 nations.
India is the only large country this year to have achieved such a significant shift.
The parameters that witnessed improvement in 2016-17 were: time taken in starting business, reduction in procedures and time required to obtain building permit; easier access to credit; protecting minority investors; ease of paying taxes; trading across borders; enforcing contracts and making resolving insolvency easier, the World Bank said.
The report also mentioned the substantive changes implemented by the Indian Government in 2016-17 that included merging of applications for the Permanent Account Number (PAN) and Tax Account Number (TAN) for starting a new business.
Jump in World Bank Ranking Won't Change Grim Reality: Congress
The Congress on Tuesday, 31 October, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "policy adventurism" and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's "adhocism" have caused economic misery and that the jump in India's ranking in the World Bank's latest 'ease of doing business' would not change the reality, PTI reported.
Terming Jaitley the "worst Finance Minister" of the country, Congress' chief spokesperson, Randeep Singh Surjewala, said that reports presented by "spin doctor" Jaitley would not change the reality driven by "disastrous" demonetisation and "failed" Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Congress said “ease of doing business” has become “cease of doing business” for micro, small, and medium enterprises under the Modi government.
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