New Delhi: India has objected to the World Bank ranking the country at a poor 134th on the ease of doing business index saying study of two urban centres cannot be a representative of a vast country.
"India has been objecting to finding of the World Bank's Doing Business Report for a number of reasons...Until Doing Business Report, 2014, the study was conducted only in Mumbai. Doing Business Report, 2015, Delhi has been added as the second city ... Study conducted at two urban centres of India cannot be representative of a vast country like India," Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, the minister said the study is based on specific cases and these are not representative of various sectors, business forms and industry requirements.
"The study is based on responses received from respondents, a majority of which are professional firms. These responses are not representative of various business and are based on limited exposure of such respondents," she added.
She also said that the study was for the period till June 2014 and subsequent measures taken have not been considered.
In the 2015 report, due to methodology change, the rank of India for the last year has been changed to 140th, she said.
In a separate reply, the Minister said that a number of steps have been taken by the government to improve ease of doing business in India.
"Comparative ranking in the World Bank's Doing Business Report is a function of reforms made by various countries. While India can make reforms on its part, its ranks depends on how close it is to the best performing country compared to other countries. Thus, time required to improve India's position amongst top 50 cannot be stated with certainty," Sitharaman said.
However, she added that number of documents, time and cost involved in export and import of goods are the factors that hamper India's business with other countries.
