Ease of doing business: India fares better than other EMs, but cities lag

Country is ahead of China, Vietnam and Bangladesh on construction permits, trading across borders and starting a business, but certain painful procedures in the metro haven't been eased yet

Over the past two years, India has made tremendous strides on the World Bank’s ease of doing business rankings, jumping from 130th rank in 2016 to 77th in 2018. 

Much of this improvement is on account of better performance on three parameters – dealing with construction permits, trading across borders and starting a business. 

Country-wise data shows that on some of these indicators, India now fares better than its emerging market competitors such as China, Vietnam and Bangladesh. 

Take dealing with construction permits, for instance. India has managed to reduce not only the number of procedures involved from thirty in