INDIA NOT EASY TO DO BUSINESS IN: WORLD BANK
New Delhi, September 26, 2007 (IANS)

By ranking India at a low 120 despite its strong stock markets and an economic growth of over 9 percent, the World Bank Wednesday said it was not easy doing business in the country and even called its judiciary the 'least efficient' in the world. India was ranked 120th - though up 12 positions from last year - in the annual report titled "Doing Business 2008" issued by the World Bank and its private lending arm International Finance Corp (IFC). India ranks below Tunisia, Botswana, Uruguay and Ethiopia.

The report indicated that for obtaining a business license in India, it may take anywhere between 159 and 522 days, depending on the state. To register a property in India, the wait can be as long as 155 days compared to a shorter time even in its immediate neighbours such as Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

On judiciary, the report said the government was the biggest litigator - mostly on tax matters. "That country (India) has one of the least efficient judiciaries in the world." At the same time it said India was among select countries where the Supreme Court, many high courts and even some district courts had their own websites to download forms, look at the schedule and check the status of a case.

"The Supreme Court even allows electronic filing of cases. That saves lawyers time and money, because they no longer need to go to the courthouse to pick up forms or receive the judge's order." In terms of enforcing contracts, it ranked India at 177th position, while China-administered Hong Kong was ranked first followed by Luxembourg and Latvia. Bangladesh was two notches up at 175th position.

Incidentally, the report came on the day when the Sensitive index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) breached the 17,000-point mark for the first time - taking barely five sessions to climb 1,000 points.

The report said that China rose nine ranks over the last year to grab the 83rd position. Topping the list is Singapore followed by New Zealand, the US, Hong Kong, Denmark, Britain and Canada. Countries that have emerged as world's top 10 reformers are Egypt, Croatia, Ghana, Macedonia, Georgia, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Kenya, China and Bulgaria. The Maldives and Pakistan lead others in South Asia. Notable reforms have been observed in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

"The benefits of increased regulatory reform are especially large for women. Women often face regulations that may be aimed at protecting them," said Melissa Johns, an author of the report. "But the effect is counterproductive, forcing women into the informal sector, where they lose out on job security and social benefits."

The rankings are based on 10 indicators of business regulation that track the time and cost to meet government requirements in business start-ups, operations, trade, taxation and closure. The report said at the city level, the comparisons were even stronger in India. "The time to obtain a business license ranges from 159 days in Bhubaneshwar to 522 in Ranchi. The time to register property, from 35 days in Hyderabad to 155 in Calcutta," it said.

"A hypothetical Indian city with the country's top performance in each of the 'Doing Business' indicators would rank 55 places higher on the ease of doing business than Mumbai," said the report.

"But the Indian government is taking action. This year India is the top reformer in trading across borders," it said, as it spelt out some positive aspects of doing business in India. "Across regions, Eastern Europe and Central Asia reformed the most, followed by South Asia and rich countries. Latin America reformed the least. The pickup in South Asia was led by India, which rose 12 ranks on the ease of doing business."

The report said traders could now submit customs declarations and pay customs fee online before the cargo arrived in ports and it took just 18 days to meet all the administrative requirements to export, compared with 27 days in 2006.