Singapore institute to study ease of doing business in India

A Singapore-based institute will come out with a study on Ease of Doing Business (EDB) in 26 Indian states by end of this year.
Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) will also submit similar but detailed studies with recommendations by the end of March 2016 to six states under a Memorandum of Understand (MoU) with each of them, pointing out theground reality being facedby investors.
"We have preliminary results of EDB in term of attractiveness, business friendliness and competitive policies (ABC)," Tan Khee Giap co-director at ACI told PTI.
The EDB studies aremore holistic approach and cover sub-economic levels which gives investors insight into challenges faced in setting up businesses among others.

The studies have feedbacks fromlocal industrialists in respective states.
"Businessmen (in the states) have got a lot of suggestions to improve EDB which we have incorporated in the survey and will help the local governments to know the requirement of private sector better," said Tan at theconference on"Competitiveness Ranking of Subnational Economies and Public Policy Studies in Greater China, India, Indonesia and ASEAN".

ACI's EDB index on ABC has ranked Maharashtra at number 1, Delhi at 2, Gujarat at 3 andTamil Nadu at 4 so far.
Comparatively, the World Bank and the Department of Industry Policy & Promotion, which uses a proxy of two-cities in a state,have ranked these four states at 8, 15, 1 and 12, respectively.

Tan has briefed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the indepth and independent approach of the ACI studies during his recent visit to India.
ACI, which is in the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, has more indepth and detailed studies under the MoUs with Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab.
It is close to signing a similar MoU with another Indian state next month.
ACI's EDB index on ABC is a bottom-up approach which takes into account the various operational issues that firms face at the ground level, with emphasis on de facto issues.
It collects extensive survey data at the state level, given that several constraints that businesses face lie under the purview of the state government.

Several Indian state governments are keen to learn from Singapore's successful model ofeconomic development, according to ACI.
The scope of learning from Singapore includes developing and maintaining world-class infrastructure, attracting foreign investments and forging effective alliances, noted the ACI.