Ease of doing business 2018. India can beat China next year; these 3 things will make it possible. 

(FE online 01Nov2017.) 

If the Narendra Modi government is able to get its focus right on 3 key areas, come 2018, India may very well perform better than China in the World Bank 'Ease of Doing Business' Rankings as well!

Ease of doing business 2018: A comparison between India and China is inevitable, especially given the fact that India has beaten China to become the fastest growing economy in the world. And, if the Narendra Modigovernment is able to get its focus right on 3 key areas, come 2018, India may very well perform better than China in the World Bank ‘Ease of Doing Business’ Rankings as well!

India has emerged an outperformer in World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ rankings this year. Scoring a ‘century’, India has jumped a whopping 30 places to bag the 100th position in a research that ranks 190 countries. PM Narendra Modi has often highlighted his government’s aim to break into the top 50 league of countries for doing business, and this jump to 100 would come as a big boost for him, especially at a time when economic growth and reforms are being questioned.

China, on the other hand, has maintained its ranking of 78 from 2017. The gap between 78 and 100 may seem small, yet is not easy to bridge. For one, the rankings are competitive, which means that not only does India have to put in efforts in several of the 10 areas that World Bank assesses, but also has to be seen doing better than other countries.

World Bank releases its annual report ranking countries on 10 parameters to come up with the final ranking. These are: Starting a Business, Dealing with Construction permits, Getting Electricity, Registering Property, Getting Credit, Protecting Minority investors, Paying taxes, Trading across borders, Enforcing contracts and Resolving insolvency. As the table below suggests, India already ranks better than China in 4 out of 10 the parameters. To break into the list of top 50 nations, and beat China, India should focus on the following three areas on priority:

1. Registering property. 2. Enforcing contracts. 3. Resolving insolvency.