Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu would be a tad more proud today, as his state has topped the central government’s ease of doing business index for states for the second consecutive year, ahead of the industrialised states such as Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
Telangana clinched the second spot, while Haryana came third among the states and Union Territories in terms of business reforms adopted by them.
The rankings, jointly prepared by the World Bank and DIPP, serve as a check-list of sorts for evaluating states on a 340-point Business Reform Action Plan, between the period of July, 2016 and July, 2018.
While Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Haryana lead the 'Top Achievers' list (score of 95 per cent and above), West Bengal which is ranked 11th in the overall list, topped the 'Achievers' list (score of 90-95 per cent).
Himachal Pradesh, ranked 16 in the overall list, has topped the “Fast Movers” list (score of 80-90 per cent).
"The ranking for states in business reforms is part of our ongoing Business Reform Action Plan. This highlights the most business friendly states in India," said Ramesh Abhishek, secretary, DIPP.
In the third edition of rankings, DIPP carried out a comprehensive business-to-government (B2G) feedback exercise, where feedback was taken from businesses on the quality of implementation of the reforms claimed by the states.
Last year, India advanced to the 100th rank in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business rankings for 2016, jumping 30 ranks from a year ago.
While 23 states submitted data for the rankings, other states have neither shared their data nor claimed any reforms, resulting them being ranked at the bottom of the list.