NEW DELHI: In a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitious target of India breaking into top 50 nations on the World Bank 's ease of doing business ranking, the country has figured among the 20 countries that have improved the most on the list. China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Pakistan are also part of the list which, as per the bank “is purely based on the improvements across 10 different regulatory areas”.“India made it easier to do business in four areas measured by Doing Business,”the multilateral agency said. The best performing/ranked economies will be disclosed on October 24.Authorities in Mumbai and New Delhi made it easier to obtain construction permits by allowing the submission of labor inspector commencement and completion notifications through a single-window clearance system. Starting a business is less costly thanks to abolished filing fees for the SPICe company incorporation form, electronic memorandum of association and articles of association.Exporting and importing is also easier following the integration of several government agencies into an online system and the upgrading of port equipment and infrastructure.“India’s achievements this year build on a sustained multi-year reform effort. Since 2003-04, India has implemented 48 reforms captured by Doing Business. The most improved business regulatory areas have been starting a business, dealing with construction permits and resolving insolvency,” World Bank said.India climbed 23 points in the index to 77th place in 2019, becoming the top ranked country in South Asia for the first time and third among the BRICS.In the last two years, the country has climbed 53 notches, a performance matched in the past only by Bhutan. The biggest gain was in construction permit where India climbed 129 ranks to 52nd place on the back of targeted government effort to remove hurdles.This top 20 improvers list does not reflect fully an economy’s attractiveness for businesses, and is purely based on the improvements across 10 different regulatory areas.Economies are selected based on the number of reforms and on how much their ease of doing business score improved. First, Doing Business selects the economies that implemented reforms making it easier to do business in three or more of the 10 areas included in this year’s aggregate ease of doing business score. Regulatory changes making it more difficult to do business are subtracted from the number of those making it easier. Second, Doing Business sorts these economies on the increase in their ease of doing business score due to reforms from the previous year.