Although entrepreneurship is growing leaps and bounds in India, conducting business in India is tough. So tough that we are one of the toughest countries in the world!
World Bank & International Finance Corporation have come out with their annual report for “Doing Business” for 2014 and things don’t look good at all. India has fallen further in rankings by 3 places. India now ranks 134th among 189 nations when it comes to ease of doing business. India ranked 131st in 2013, as against 134th this year. you can check out the entire country rankings here.
Singapore ranked first when it came to ease of doing business for fifth year running! Compare this; In Singapore, to start a company take less than 48 hours, while in India, it takes more than 27 days (that too in ideal conditions). Hong Kong, New Zealand, United States and Denmark rounded off the Top 5 countries in the list.
BRIC Nation Comparison
[lower the better]
Among the BRIC nations, India ranks lowest. Russia is at 92, China is at 96, Brazil at 116 and India at 134.
| Russia | Brazil | China | India | |
|
Ease of Doing Business Rank
|
92 | 116 | 96 | 134 |
|
Starting a Business
|
88 | 123 | 158 | 179 |
|
Dealing with Construction Permits
|
178 | 130 | 185 | 182 |
|
Getting Electricity
|
117 | 14 | 119 | 111 |
|
Registering Property
|
17 | 107 | 48 | 92 |
|
Getting Credit
|
109 | 109 | 73 | 28 |
|
Protecting Investors
|
115 | 80 | 98 | 34 |
|
Paying Taxes
|
56 | 159 | 120 | 158 |
|
Trading Across Borders
|
157 | 124 | 74 | 132 |
|
Enforcing Contracts
|
10 | 121 | 19 | 186 |
|
Resolving Insolvency
|
55 | 135 | 78 | 121 |
When you break down into various aspects of ease of doing business, India ranks nearly at the bottom of the heap on 4 aspects namely, Starting a Business, Getting permits, enforcing contracts and paying taxes.
On the other hand it ranks quite well when it comes to “Getting Credit” or “Protecting investors”.
When it specifically comes to starting a business in India, here is how India compares with South Asian and OECD countries.
In terms of ”starting a business”, India is 179th in the world. Only 10 countries fare worse than her. Anyone wishes to start a business needs to go through 12 different procedures and takes nearly a month! [Suggested Reading: Starting Business in India – Simplified step-by-step process]
We have been covering this report for past 5 years, and in so many years, India has hardly improved on any of the aspects. Yes, there are changes in few aspects, but they are just marginal. It is clear that policy paralysis in past 5-6 years has taken its toll, and things have not improved.
You can see the India related report here.
