India jumped 14 spots to rank 63 out of 190 nations, with a Doing Business score of 71 in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index on Thursday. The rankings come at a time when the Reserve Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Bank have slashed India’s projected Gross Domestic Product growth rate for 2019-’20.

India also ranked No 1 in South Asia, with Bhutan coming in second and Nepal third.

India ranked No 136 in the world on ease of starting a business, No 27 on dealing with construction permits, No 22 on getting electricity, No 154 in registering property, No 25 on getting credit, No 13 on protecting minority investors, No 115 on paying taxes, 68th in trading across borders, 163rd in enforcing contracts and 52nd in resolving insolvency.

On the other hand, China was 31st on the Ease of Doing Business Index, with a Doing Business score of 77.9, and Pakistan was placed 108th with a Doing Business score of 61.

India had been ranked 142nd in 2014, when the Narendra Modi-led government came to power. In 2018, India had ranked 77th out of 190 countries.

Earlier in the month, India had fallen 10 places to rank 68th on an annual global competitiveness index compiled by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum. It was among the worst-performing BRICS nations along with Brazil, which was ranked 71st this year. BRICS is a grouping of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.