Haryana slips from 3rd slot to 16th

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, September 5

Haryana has slipped from third spot in 2018 to 16th position in “Ease of Doing Business” rankings for states and union territories released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

According to the report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, Andhra Pradesh topped in rankings for the third time in a row. The rankings are based on implementation of Business Reform Action Plan 2019.

Registering a jump of 10 places in rankings, Uttar Pradesh occupied the second position in 2019 compared to 12th in 2018. Telangana slipped to third position from second in 2018. It was followed by Madhya Pradesh (4th), Jharkhand (5th), Chhattisgarh (6th), Himachal Pradesh (7th), Rajasthan (8th), West Bengal (9th) and Gujarat (10th).

Delhi’s position improved to 12th from 23rd, while Gujarat slipped from 5th place in 2018. Among laggards, Assam was 20th, J&K 21st, Goa 24th, Bihar 26th and Kerala 28th, with Tripura ranked 36th and last.

The exercise is aimed at promoting competition among states with a view to improving the business climate to attract domestic and foreign investment. This was the fourth edition of the report, which was first released in 2015.

The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 includes 181 reform points covering 45 business regulatory areas such as access to information, single window system, labour and environment.

Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda today targeted the BJP government after the decline in Haryana’s “Ease of Doing Business” rankings.

He said with Haryana falling 13 places from third to 16th position, the government stood exposed and it had become clear why the state had reached the top position in unemployment.

He said the government had organised “Happening Haryana” in 2015 and claimed to have signed an MoU for

Rs 5.87 lakh crore. In reply to an RTI plea filed in 2019, the government had admitted that only 4 per cent of this much-hyped investment came through and there had not been a significant increase over this period.

Hooda said during Congress tenure, Haryana was number one in per capita investment and IMTs were opened across Haryana for industrial development of every part of the state. He said the situation had become such that industries were either forced to lay off workers or were thinking of moving to other states due to deteriorating conditions.

He said due to bad condition of the private sector and layoffs in the government sector, Haryana had reached on top in unemployment.

Hooda said the declining business had also affected the state’s economic condition, putting it under a mounting burden of debt. He said a strategy should be formulated to improve the state’s business and fiscal condition.