Kerala has improved its ranking in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index, a World Bank initiative of ranking States and Union Territories based on the business environment, by jumping to 15th rank from the 28th position in 2019.
The data released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry, shows that Kerala, with a score of 75.49%, has been placed 15th in the country. The ranking is based on the implementation score and feedback score obtained from the beneficiaries.
The progress is the result of proactive measures and initiatives taken by the State government to stimulate the State’s business environment with an integrated development strategy encompassing policy reforms and business re-engineering processes, said Industries, Coir, and Law Minister P. Rajeeve.
“The holistic approach focussing on investment with sustainable development has helped the State make rapid gains as a preferred investment destination,” he said. Going forward, the ranking would further improve with the number of initiatives currently being under implementation, he added.
The State Business Reform Action Plan (SBRAP)-2020 comprised 301 action points spread across 18 departments/agencies covering 15 reform areas with an addition of several sector-specific reforms. Unlike the earlier evaluation based on One Uniform Ranking, the SBRAP-2020 assessment categorised States into Top Achievers, Achievers, Aspirer, and Emerging Business Ecosystems. Kerala is placed under the category of Aspirer. The categorisation is based on the final scores for reform implementation as well as a user feedback survey conducted by the DPIIT.
Suman Billa, Principal Secretary, Industries, said the improvement in the ranking would inspire the industrial and investment promotion agencies to enhance efforts to attract more investments and enterprises to the State.
“The SBRAP-2020 ranking is expected to provide further boost to Kerala as a preferred investment destination,” said M.G. Rajamanickam IAS, Managing Director of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).
“The State has witnessed a significant improvement in DPIIT’s SBRAP implementation over the last four years from 22.8% in 2016 to 80-90% in 2020, gaining a CAGR of 40% during this period,” said Mr. Rajamanickam.
The consolidated approach devised by the KSIDC with a slew of financial assistance schemes to MSMEs, women entrepreneurs, and start-ups is expected to help in improving the EoDB ranking in the future, he said.
