India’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business has jumped 12 steps to 130th. While there has been a significant improvement, India continues to lag its Asian neighbours. Bloomberg TV India caught up with DIPP Secretary Amitabh Kant to find out what plans the Centre has to further improve the ranking. Excerpts:

Which are the areas the Government has improved that helped in the overall ranking?

We have done a 12-point jump but the Prime Minister’s target is that India must become the easiest and simplest place to do business. This requires a lot of sustained work over a period of time. We need to improve on all parameters. That is why the Centre is bringing in major institutional changes – it is setting up a National Company Law Tribunal, bringing in commercial courts, making entry and exit easy through the implementation of the Viswanathan Committee report, yet to come in, and there will be a lot of work on trading across borders.

You have mentioned enforcement of contracts and access to credit, particularly through the MUDRA scheme. What else is needed to move “access to credit” to a better position?

The Centre has done a lot on improvement of credit; they just need to make it easier. The studies are based on data till May 31.

Not just the study, it actually takes into consideration the usage of the changes that we have made.

This year will be the year, when all changes that have been made will be utilised by the peopleand that is the reason why India will make a bigger jump this year.

With RBI cutting rates by 125 bps this year, do you expect a positive movement on access to credit?

Yes, we can expect it as a positive movement but I think there are several other parameters we need to work on.

There are 10 parameters and we need to crack each one of them.

As far as enforcement of contract is concerned, doesn’t the judiciary needs to gear up? Is there some policy action which needs to be taken?

I think in every court, especially in the lower ones, we must have commercial courts. We must provide quick decisions. It takes 1,400 days, and 42 per cent of the commercial amount actually goes for litigation. Only Angola, Bangladesh and Timor-Leste are behind India. It is a critical area.

Apart from judicial action, is there any policy action that needs to be taken?

The Centre is already taking decisions to set up commercial courts. The Cabinet has passed this and we should be able to put them into place quickly.

What lessons do we need to learn from competitors, particularly the BRICS nations?

India has done the best amongst the BRICS countries, as well as Asian countries, this year. We need to look at how Rwanda, Russia, Croatia broke into the top 50 over a period of 5-6 years. In the first year, they just jumped up three to four positions. This requires sustained work. Everybody should work with the same mindset.

What should India’s USP be? What can we do best in terms of these parameters and how can we capitalise on the momentum?

You know, the World Bank study is restricted to Mumbai and Delhi. In India, every single State must become an easy and simple place. Therefore, every single State must see what Singapore has done to be at pole position. Singapore has been number one for the last 5-6 years. And I think that if we can take 20-25 States of India exactly to the level of Singapore, India’s position will jump.

Since Delhi and Mumbai are currently considered, would you pitch for a change in the methodology for World Bank to take a more comprehensive view?

It is very difficult to change methodologies, and say that you should take into account more places. I think India needs to improve for India’s sake and not for the World Bank’s sake. In addition to this study – which is important for optics – I think the studies we have done for States is far more important as that is a parameter on which every State has worked, and must keep working.

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