Taking cue from the World Bank ease of doing business index for Indian states released in September 2015, the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has come up with a similar idea, Press Trust of India reported. The move is intended at promoting competition among states to improve ease of doing business.
The DIPP will host a website for states to update their performance on 340 pre-identified parameters on a real-time basis and prepare a report card on the same. The report will help rank the states.
A senior official at the DIPP said the portal would be up and running in a weeks' time by April 1. He added that the DIPP would validate those improvements which the states claim from time to time.
"Stakeholders, including companies or individuals, can also give feedback on the portal about the improvements made by states on each of those parameters," the official told PTI.
Digitised land records at local municipality offices, land banks' availability for industrial use, time taken in giving power connections to manufacturing units, hours of power supply, and the provision for e-filing for commercial disputes at district courts are a few parameters among the 340 identified.
The DIPP hopes the entire effort will help India's investment climate and improve its ranking in the World Bank's report. In 2016, India stood at 130th among 189 nations in the Bank's Ease of Doing Business study.
Gujurat, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkand occupied the top three ranks in the country.
An analysis of the World Bank ranking shows that India does not find a place in the top 100 in most of the 10 important parameters of set by the agency, except for getting credit, electricity and protecting minority investors, PTI reported.
These efforts are expected to push India's ranking within the top 50.
