Jump in rankings is highest any country has ever made, says FM Arun Jaitley

India is the only large country this year to have achieved such a significant shift. On the “distance to frontier metric,” one of the key indicators in the survey, India’s score went from 56.05 in Doing Business 2017 to 60.76 in Doing Business 2018. For the full story, go here.

22:09 What do the experts think about India's rise in the rankings? Here a lowdown.

21:45 Amitabh Kant, CEO of government think-tank Niti Aayog, said on Tuesday that India can easily jump into the top 50 of the Ease of Doing Business rankings given the current political will.

“It is a huge achievement. No country in the world has made such a big quantum jump over 2-3 years — 42 positions. It also shows India's commitment for reform,” Kant said.

21:30 In Starting a Business, India has reduced the time needed to register a new business to 30 days now, from 127 days 15 years ago. However, the number of procedures is still cumbersome for local entrepreneurs who still need to go through 12 procedures to start a business in Mumbai, which is considerably more than in OECD high-income economies, where it takes five procedures on average.

“Tackling these challenging reforms will be key to India sustaining the momentum towards a higher ranking," said Junaid Ahmad, Country Director India. "To secure changes in the remaining areas will require not just new laws and online systems but deepening the ongoing investment in the capacity of states and their institutions to implement change and transform the framework of incentives and regulation facing the private sector. India’s focus on ‘doing business’ at the state level may well be the platform that sustains the country’s reform trajectory for the future.”

21:10 Commenting on the World Bank Report on Ease of Doing Business, Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII, said: “The huge improvement in ranking and score will immediately boost investor sentiments. The latest report validates the commitment of the government to fast-tracking economic reforms, addressing red tape and facilitating business, which it has undertaken in mission mode over the last three years.”

20:50 Describing as significant the huge improvement in India's position in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking, a top US-India business advocacy group today said this would help the country attract more FDI.

"This is a significant movement and a very important barometer of India moving the right direction and in creating the kind of channels that will attract (foreign direct) investment," Nisha Desai Biswal, the new head of the US-India Business Council (USIBC), told PTI.

20:35 “With the Indian government undertaking a spree of reform initiatives, the improvement in India’s Doing Business Rankings comes as no surprise," said Pankaj Patel, President, FICCI.

“The reforms have been broad-based encompassing wide range of areas including taxation, finance, legal and administrative procedures. With GST, the government has laid the foundation for a more efficient indirect tax system and likewise, with the enactment of Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, India now has an efficient institutional mechanism for easing of business exit," he added.

20:24 "Reforms are continuous process. The 3-4 areas where we haven’t been rated high, will take this into consideration in next year’s data." says Jaitley.

20:17 The Prime Minister has put out a series of tweets reacting India's jump in the rankings. Here's what he said:

# Easier business environment is leading to historic opportunities for our entrepreneurs, particularly MSME sector & bringing more prosperity.

# Over the last 3 years we have seen a spirit of positive competition among states towards making business easier. This has been beneficial.

# It has never been easier to do business in India. India welcomes the world to explore economic opportunities our nation has to offer!

# Guided by the Mantra of ‘Reform, Perform & Transform’ we are determined to further improve our rankings & scale greater economic growth.

20:10 Arun Jaitley: We're often not being not given enough credit for reforms we've carried out. I believe reaching top 50 places is doable.

20:05 DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek says GST will further boost India's ranking next year. GST was implemented after the cut-off period for this year's rankings.

20:00 Here's excerpts of the official statement from the Prime Minister's Office:

# The Government has undertaken an extensive exercise of stakeholder consultations, identification of user needs, government process re-engineering to match Government rules and procedures with user expectations and streamline them to create a more conducive business environment.

# The report acknowledges India as a top improver with the highest jump in rank of any country in DB Report, 2018. India is the only country in South Asia and BRICS economies to feature among most improved economies of the DB Report this year.

19:56 The annual report, which ranks countries on business-friendliness, procedural ease, regulatory architecture and absence of bureaucratic red tape, could not have come at a more opportune time for the government that is battling to help the economy claw out of a three year slowdown. It also comes a shot in the arm ahead of key state elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.

India's real or inflation-adjusted GDP growth has sharply moderated to 5.7 percent in Apri-June, the slowest in 13 quarters, amid lingering effects of demonetization and an untidy rollout of a nation-state goods and services tax (GST) from July 1.

19:53 Here are the top 10 takeaways from the Doing Business report.

19:48 Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu, speaking via video conference, says Prime Minister Narendra Modi is committed to bringing about landmark changes in India's economic landscape.

19:45 There is huge scope for us to jump further in these rankings; there is a sufficient work in progress to warrant a rise, says Jaitley.

19:43 Resolving insolvency rank improves to 103 in 2018 from 136 in 2017.

19:39 Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is now addressing a press conference. He says this is the biggest-ever jump recorded by the country on the Doing Business rankings.

19:24 The report is expected to be released anytime now. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is slated to address a press conference in connection with the report.

19:16 Last year, India was among the top 50 in three categories — minority investment, getting electricity and getting credit. But it ranked among the worst in the world in dealing with construction permits, resolving insolvency, registering property, trading across borders, paying taxes and enforcing contracts.

19:08 The Ease of Doing Business report is based on how easy it is for companies to do business as well takes in account certain regulations based on ten parameters such as starting a business, getting electricity, dealing with construction permits and paying taxes among others.

18:57 Last year, India came in at 130 on the Index, below countries like Ghana, Vietnam and Uganda. Following this, Prime Minister Modi had asked various ministries to increase the pace of reform work.

18:53 The Narendra Modi government, which has vowed to remove red-tape, eliminate procedural delays and turn India into a sought-after investment destination, has set a target of leapfrogging to a rank of 90 in 2017-18 and 30 in the Doing Business survey by 2030.

18:50 India is likely to better its performance and move up 30 places to occupy 100th place this year, according to a recent report.

18:45 The World Bank is slated to release the 2018 version of its Ease of Doing Business index shortly, with the Narendra Modi government hopeful of a significant jump on the back of reforms it has undertaken recently.