Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu’s next-door neighbour, has retained the top position in the ranking of States and Union Territories (UTs) based on the implementation of the business reform action plan, according to a report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Uttar Pradesh and Telangana were placed at the second and third place, respectively in the ease of doing business for 2019, prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).
The parameters include areas such as construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single-window system.
Releasing the report, Nirmala said the ranking makes States and UTs a better place to do business. The DPIIT conducts the exercise for all states/UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP). In the last ranking released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh had topped the chart, followed by Telangana and Haryana.
Nirmala said India’s commitment to reform is being taken seriously by foreign investors, which is evident from the good inflow of FDI even during the time of Covid-19.
Between April-July, the Foreign Direct investment (FDI) into India stood at USD 20 billion. India’s commitment to reform is taken seriously by investors abroad and they take India to be a very desirable destination, otherwise we wouldn’t be seeing good amount of FDI coming even during the pandemic time when India, as many of our critics would say, had the strictest lockdown, she said.
From Tamilnadu point of view, it is a matter of concern that the State, despite so many business friendly advantages to its credit, has not found a place for itself among the top ranks. Stakeholders should come together to work sincerely to improve the State’s rankings.