Andhra Pradesh has topped the third edition of the government’s Ease of Doing Business index for states. The index data is collected on an online dashboard maintained by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), which conducts the ranking. Andhra Pradesh has been followed by Telangana (98.33%) and Haryana (98.07%) at the second and third spot.

It was widely expected that Jharkhand or Telangana would win the top spot as they both had perfect 100% score on the ‘Reform Evidence Scorecard’ – a real-time index mapping states’ improvement. However, after the combined score of Reform Evidence and feedback from the private sector, Andhra Pradesh left the two states behind. Jharkhand fell to the fourth spot with 97.99% combined score.

In 2016, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana jointly secured the top position on Ease of Doing Business index under the Business Reform Action Plan, 2017. The Business Reform Action Plan 2017 includes 405 recommendations for reforms on regulatory processes, policies, practices and procedures spread across 12 reform areas.

At the 10th spot is West Bengal with 94.70% score. Interestingly, West Bengal had a 100% score on Reforms Evidence in March. Other states that touched 100% score were Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, while as many as 18 states had staked the claim for a perfect 100% score.

It is noteworthy that Mumbai (Maharashtra) and New Delhi (Delhi), the two cities, the World Bank takes into consideration for its annual Ease of Doing Business Index, have not performed well on this state index. As per the latest score, Maharashtra is at 13th rank 92.71% and Delhi is far behind at 23rd rank with a meagre 31.60% score.