India’s rank in the Ease of Doing Business 2019 survey climbed 23 places to 77 among 190 countries surveyed, making it the only country to rank among the top 10 improvers for the second consecutive year. India saw a similar improvement in the “trading across borders” section to 80th position from 146th a year ago. This improvement was made possible by reducing the time and cost to export and import through various initiatives, including the implementation of electronic sealing of containers, upgrading of port infrastructure and allowing electronic submission of supporting documents with digital signatures under its National Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2017-2020.

India has registered huge improvement in six out of the 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices. The biggest improvements have been in the indicators related to construction permits, in which India’s ranking improved by 129 points, and trading across borders, in which it rose by 66 points. Areas where the country still needs to improve are starting of business, in which the country ranked 137, paying taxes and enforcement of contracts.