India has been placed at the 32nd position in terms of world competitiveness by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), the second best performer after China among the BRIC economies.
According to a ranking compiled by IMD, India was ranked in the 32nd spot, while China (19th) assured a place for itself in the top 20 economies. The other BRIC peers Brazil and Russia were positioned 44th and 49th, respectively in the list.
The list of 59 nations was based on parameters such as government and business efficiency.
However, both India and China slipped by one place. Brazil fell by six places, while Russia improved its position from last year's 51st place.
The US and Hong Kong were the most competitive countries in overall competitiveness among 59 nations, both ahead of last year's winner, Singapore, which fell to the third spot this year. In 2010, the US ranked third, losing the top ranking for the first time in decades.
Interestingly, Sweden and Germany made significant improvement in their respective rankings. Sweden jumped to fourth from sixth in 2010 and Germany gained six notches to 10th position.
Switzerland bagged the fifth position, followed by Taiwan (sixth) Canada (seventh) Qatar (eighth) and Australia (ninth).
The overall competitiveness of the US was 'rescued' by its business efficiency. In more advanced economies (Japan, Belgium, Ireland, US, Germany, etc) the government lags behind business in efficiency. Switzerland is the exception.
In emerging economies, Brazil and India are struggling, while Russia, South Africa, Chile, Estonia and Indonesia are ahead.
Besides, India scored 29 points in government efficiency and 22 in business efficiency.
The IMD said that a sound 'balance' between government and business efficiency can be found in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.