GST will further boost Ease of Doing Business rank: PM Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said India’s jump to 100 in the global ease of doing business ranking is the result of reforms undertaken by the government in the past three years, which have been recognised by the World Bank. He said India has achieved critical mass for a swift takeoff with reforms such as GST, which has not been counted by the World Bank in its study this year.

Modi was addressing an Ease of Doing Business event hosted by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and attended by Suresh Prabhu, commerce and industry minister, and World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva, among others. The PM said the GST Council has “positively accepted” nearly all the suggestions made by small and medium entrepreneurs, while promising more changes to the new tax regime.

“In the next meeting of the council on (November) 9 and 10, if no state puts any barrier, we will undertake whatever steps are required to strengthen country’s economic framework,” Modi said. He added that the GST process has set a great example of how the system and policy framework can be made foolproof even while listening to and respecting everyone’s opinions.


He said that when GST gets counted “India will occupy a place of pride in the World Bank report next year and in the years thereafter”.

Taking a dig at the opposition, Modi said that several people who have held position in the World Bank before have questioned India’s high jump even though he as a PM has never seen the World Bank building.

“Insolvency code, bankruptcy code, commercial courts — if such legal reforms had been done in your time then this ranking credit would have come to you as well,” PM said. “You have done nothing but ask questions of those who have.” Modi said that the size, speed and level of reforms being undertaken in his government are so high that his detractors are not able to match pace with their criticism.

The prime minister said that over the last three years there has been a sea change in the response of governments, both at Central and state level in an attempt to align the Indian regulatory environment to international best practices and create a business-friendly environment.