Goa dropped to a shameful 24th position as Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance and Minister of Corporate Affairs, announced the 4th edition of Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) ranking, at the New Media Centre, New Delhi.
The announcements were made presence of Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Minister of Commerce & Industry; Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Commerce & Industry and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation; and Som Parkash, Minister of State in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Goa was earlier 19th in ranking and has now dropped to 24th.
Ranking of States based on the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan started in the year 2015. Till date, State Rankings have been released for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017-18.
The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 includes 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour, Environment, etc. “The Ease of Doing Business rankings being released today are a reflection of the efforts made by states, the rankings are competitive; India is among the very few nations which has statespecific rankings, which will in turn help the nation improve its ranking,” Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal said.
“I would urge States to undertake steps to minimize the regulatory burden by removing renewal of licenses or extending their periodicity, simplifying application forms, introducing risk-based inspections or introduction of third-party inspections, digitizing approvals and undertaking measures to rationalize the regulatory regime,” said Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister for Commerce & Industry and Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
“India is seen taking the reform process seriously which showed when foreign direct investment increased even during the Covid-19 pandemic amid what was called world’s strictest lockdown. Some states have shown extraordinary energy in putting together action plans and making sure that reforms happen. States have embraced the true spirit behind the State Business Reforms Action Plan,” said Union Minister Sitharaman.
The top ten states under State Reform Action Plan 2019 are 1. Andhra Pradesh 2. Uttar Pradesh 3. Telangana 4. Madhya Pradesh 5. Jharkhand 6. Chhattisgarh 7. Himachal Pradesh 8. Rajasthan 9. West Bengal 10. Gujarat
