While the BJP government has made dramatic progress in improving India’s Ease of Doing Business ranking, the World Bank has thrown a new challenge for the government by adding another criterion to the ranking. From the next ranking onwards, the World Bank will include procurement as one of the criteria for rating countries Ease of Doing Business. “Procurement is a key indicator of the efficiency of a government,” Junaid Kamal Ahmad, World Bank’s Country Head for India, said at an event on Monday. He also lauded India’s efforts and for its rapid rise in the ease of doing business rankings in the last few years. While the governments all across the world look to improve their ease of doing business rankings as the same is also a measure to check a country’s attractiveness to foreign companies, “building the state’s capability for efficient procurement was a key objective of World Bank”, Junaid Kamal Ahmad added.
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Under the BJP government’s rule, India has made a massive leap in its ranking from 140 spots in 2014 to 63rd position in the last rankings. According to data released by the Expenditure Secretary of the Finance Ministry, government procurement amounts to 20% of India’s GDP and “procurement is a strategic tool for achieving fiscal, economic and social objectives”. TV Somnathan, Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance also said that efficient procurement is a prerequisite for timely execution of public projects, he said at the event.
Meanwhile, in the last ease of doing business ranking, India showcased improvement from its previous position and jumped 14 places. India now stands at 63rd position on the World Bank’s ease of doing business ranking which was released in October last year. Government’s flagship ‘Make in India’ scheme and other reforms doled out to attract foreign investment might have helped in improving India’s ranking. India now also features among the top 10 performers on the list for improving its performance for the third time straight. “This is the third year in a row that India makes to top 10 in Doing Business, which is a success which very few countries have done over the 20 years of the project,” Simeon Djankov, Director of Development Economics at the World Bank, said earlier, PTI reported.