India Aims for High Ranking in World Bank's Business Ready Report

New Delhi, May 5 (PTI) With the World Bank planning to come out with its first Business Ready report in September this year, the commerce ministry has started working on the international trade topic in detail to further push India's ranking, an official said.

Business Ready (B-READY) is the World Bank's new flagship report benchmarking the business environment and investment climate in most economies worldwide.

The report assesses the regulatory framework and public services directed at firms, and the efficiency with which regulatory framework and public services are combined in practice.

The first B-READY report will be launched on September 25, 2024.

The Business Ready report is replacing the World Bank Group's earlier Doing Business index. In 2020, the World Bank decided to pause the publication of its Doing Business report following a number of irregularities regarding changes to data in previous reports.

The new focuses on 10 topics covering the lifecycle of a firm in the course of starting, operating, or closing or reorganizing its activities.

The topics are Business Entry, Business Location, Utility Services, Labor, Financial Services, International Trade, Taxation, Dispute Resolution, Market Competition, and Business Insolvency.

Over the next three years, the project will grow to cover about 180 economies worldwide annually, starting with 54 economies in 2023-24, 120 economies in 2024-25, and reaching 180 economies in 2025-26.

"Concerned ministries are working on their respective topics, the commerce ministry is working on the international trade part. We are preparing the replies to all the questionnaires under this subject. The aim is to push India's rankings," the official said.

Issues that are there under the trade topic include quality of regulations for international trade; public services; efficiency of importing and exporting goods, and engaging in digital trade.

India has over the years taken a series of measures to improve trade infrastructure and boost ease of doing business. India's exports of goods and services have crossed over USD 760 billion in 2023-24.