WB sets higher ease of doing biz goals for Maha

The Asian Age.

Metros, Mumbai

The World Bank ranks countries on 10 parameters through a stringent process of surveys and grassroots interactions.

Maharashtra has fared better in the power sector, with faster electricity connections.

Mumbai: The World Bank has set new goals for Maharashtra to achieve better ranking in ease of doing business in 2019 after its name did not reflect in the top 10 states. The Doing Business Report (DBR) for the next year has increased index scores in four categories, including reliability of infrastructure, transparency of information, geographic coverage, and land dispute resolution. So far, Maharashtra has featured 12th in the list of Indian states in terms of ease of doing business.

Among the top 10 states are West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand and Telangana. These states have scored 100 per cent on various parameters set by the World Bank. Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has taken many initiatives over the past two years to bring up its ranking.

An official from the industries department said, “We have brought many changes to create better environment for businesses. We will have to improve on infrastructure, construct warehouses, and encourage more digitisation to get into the top 10. We have achieved a few things like reduction in the number of days required for permissions related to construction of a project from 164 to 60. Similarly, registration of property, which used to take 45 days, can now be done in 22 days. The cost of the process has also been reduced from Rs 51,800 to Rs 30,405.”

Maharashtra has fared better in the power sector, with faster electricity connections. The time for obtaining a new electricity connection has been reduced from 47 days to just eight days. According to the report, the cost of obtaining a new connection, too, has been reduced from Rs 21,196 to Rs 12,075.

In terms of the World Bank ranking, India has leapfrogged 30 places to enter the ranks of the top 100 countries. The World Bank ranks countries on 10 parameters through a stringent process of surveys and grassroots interactions. Its latest report in 2017 recorded a significant elevation in rank for India in terms of paying taxes, resolving insolvency, and protecting minority investors.

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