Andhra Pradesh has emerged on top in DIPPs recently released list of rankings of states based on ease of doing business. Andhra scored 98.42% leaving behind Telangana by merely 0.09% to emerge on top. This list was prepared by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) along with the World Bank. It was in accordance with DIPPs Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP 2017).
Kutumba Rao, Andhra Pradesh Planning Board vice-chairman, said, “We are putting in efforts to bring in a timeline for all clearances to under seven days through single window system integrated with the CM’s CORE dashboard in a transparent manner,”.
The scores were prepared based on the final ‘reform evidence score’ and ‘feedback score’ of the states and union territories.
Other states featuring in the top 10 list were: Haryana (3), Jharkhand (4), Gujarat (5), Chattishgarh (6), Madhya Pradesh (7), Karnataka (8), Rajasthan (9) and West Bengal (10). Meghalaya came in last at 36th position.
These rankings are based on 372 reforms and action points undertaken by states to ease regulation and systems in about 12 reform areas like construction permit, labor regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability, and single window system, among others. It has been successful in fostering a healthy competition amongst the states to attract investments and improve business.
When looking at the ‘Reform Evidence Scorecard’, two states Jharkhand and Telangana have scored a perfect score of 100%. While Arunachal, Meghalaya, and Lakshwadweep were at the bottom with a 0% score. This means that Jharkhand and Telangana were able to perfectly execute all their planned reform plans while the states at the bottom were unable to execute any of their planned reforms.
In the ‘Feedback Evidence Scorecard’, Andhra Pradesh came at the top again with a score of 86.50%, leaving behind Telangana with a score of 83.95%.
This initiative by the DIPP will not only foster a healthy competition amongst the states but will also serve as a point of reference for industries to further pursue their goals based on the ease of doing business of states in their sector.