In an apparent and convincing boost to the Narendra Modi government's push for reforms, India soared 30 spots to 100th rank in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Report 2018 (DB 2018). The appraisal comes on the back of three key parameters — resolving insolvency protecting minority investors and paying taxes — where India has made exceptional progress.

Resolving Insolvency

India ranks at the 103rd spot, up 33 places from DB 2017 position, on the resolving insolvency metric.

The jump can be attributed to the enactment of the big bang Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) last year. The IBC or bankruptcy law, passed by Parliament in May 2016, came into effect in December, is meant to to tackle bad loans and non-performing assets (NPAs) in the system.

Many experts have said that the improvement in the DB 2018 ranking was on cards. “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.

“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.

Paying Taxes

Tax payments is an area where the country galloped the most — from rank 172 last year to 119 this year. Given the implementation of GST , the ranking on this parameter is expected to improve further and in turn boost India's overall ranking on the Ease of Doing Business next year.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is confident that on the back of GST and other reforms that are planned, India would see an equally impressive improvement next year.

India ushered in one of its largest economic reform — Goods and Services Tax on July 1. Besides, the GST council is mulling putting together a system to rank businesses based on their tax payment records. This will help businesses know which suppliers are likely to default on their tax payment obligations, leading to a further transparent.

Protecting Minority Investors

India now ranks 4 on the protecting minority investors parameter, up from rank 9 in DB 2017. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of Confederation of Indian Industry (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-track economic reforms, address red tape and facilitate businesses."

Expressing pride over the key reforms in the digitisation of processes, enhancing tax payment and access to credit, Banerjee said: "In fact, India is well on its way to emerging as a global leader in protecting minority investors interests and is currently ranked at number 4 in the world."