India climbed 14 rungs in the World Bank’s latest ease of doing business rankings to stand at 63 among 190 countries, becoming one of the top 10 most improved countries for the third consecutive time. The sharp rise in India’s ranking underscores the reformist credentials of the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance government and may help the country attract multinational companies looking for alternative investment destinations to China amid Beijing’s ongoing trade war with the US.“I am extremely happy that this kind of an upward movement has happened. But of course, we have to touch 50 as has been our target. So, all efforts from this year will be moving in that direction,” said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Last year, India jumped 23 places to reach the 77th position. Ever since the Modi government first came to power, India’s ranking has improved 79 places from 142nd in 2014 to 63rd in 2019, a record for a major economy. Beginning 2020, the World Bank will expand its ease of doing business survey to two more cities – Bengaluru and Kolkata, in addition to Delhi and Mumbai that are currently surveyed. In a change of methodology, the World Bank has decided to have four cities from every country with a population above 100 million.
