New Delhi: Showing poor performance in terms of ease of doing business, Odisha ranked 29 in the 2018-19 edition of Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) rankings of the states. The results were announced by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Saturday.
The state recorded a big fall as compare to 14th position it had secured in 2017-18 edition of the BRAP. In the current edition, Andhra Pradesh secured the first rank followed by Uttar Pradesh and Telangana in the list of 36 states/Union territories. In the east zone, Jharkhand topped the chart. Odisha was placed at the bottom along with Arunachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.
According to the Ministry, the Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 includes 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour and Environment among others. The Ministry added that the larger objective of attracting investments and increasing Ease of Doing Business in each state was sought to be achieved by introducing an element of healthy competition through a system of ranking states based on their performance in the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan. The ranking this time gives full weightage to the feedback from over thirty thousand respondents at the ground level, who gave their opinions about the effectiveness of the reforms, the Ministry said.
“India is seen taking the reform process seriously which showed when foreign direct investment in the country increased even during the Covid-19 pandemic, amid what was called world’s strictest lockdown. Some states have shown extraordinary energy in putting together action plans and making sure that reforms happen. States have embraced the true spirit behind the State Business Reforms Action Plan,” said Sitharaman after release of the rankings.
Significantly, ranking of states based on the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan started in the year 2015. Till date, state rankings have been released for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017-18.
PNN & Agencies