New Delhi: Andhra Pradesh topped the list of states in the ease of doing business rankings 2019 followed by Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, showed in a report released on Saturday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman released the report which ranks state based on 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as access to information, single window system, labour, environment among others.

Gujarat was among the top ten states while West Bengal was ahead at the ninth spot. Jharkhand and Chattisgarh took the fifth and sixth places while Madhya Pradesh was placed at number four. Delhi bagged the top spot among the Union Territories. Assam was among the top performers among the North Eastern states. The industrially important state of Maharashtra was ranked 13^th in the list for 2019, retaining the same spot for the second successive year. Uttar Pradesh has made strong comeback rising to the second position in 2019 from 12^th place I 2018.

Himachal Pradesh moved upto the seventh place in 2019 from 16^th in 2018. In the overall, ranking, Delhi moved to the 12^th spot in 2019 from the 23^rd place in 2018. The rankings for 2019 were to be released in March this year but had to be postponed due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. The Government had launched the ease of doing ranking for states to trigger a competition among states to reform their business and approval processes to attract investment. The sustained progress of India’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business had also had an impact on states to shore up their approval and regulatory processes and increase their potential to attract investors.

India is seen taking the reform process seriously which showed when Foreign Direct Investment in the country increased even during the Covid- 19 pandemic, amid what was called the World’s strictest lock down, said Finance Minister Nirmala Sitarama while releasing the rankings.