India top reformer in South Asia; Hyderabad business-friendly

New Delhi, Feb 14 (UNI) The World Bank has commended India for creating an investment climate conducive to growth, saying that doing business became easier in 2005-2006 with Hyderabad having the most business-friendly regulations.

In a new regional report released by the World Bank and its private sector arm IFC titled 'Doing Business in South Asia 2007', Mumbai has been listed at the 11th place in India, ahead of Kolkata, in terms of easier business regulations.

The report covers eight countries in the World Bank's South Asia region and examines 12 major cities in India, six in Pakistan and four in Bangladesh.

Within India, Hyderabad has the most business-friendly regulations.

Typically, large urban centers such as Mumbai and Kolkata have a high volume of business, so regulatory and administrative bottlenecks create serious congestion.

Karachi is at the top in Pakistan, while Dhaka ranks best in Bangladesh.

Reforms in India and Pakistan have helped reduce the time, cost and hassle for businesses to comply with legal and administrative requirements.

The report, however, says other South Asian economies improved business regulations in 2005-2006. But the region ranked last in the pace of global reforms.

The World Bank report compares business regulations in the region with 175 economies around the world. The top-ranked countries are the Maldives (53) and Pakistan (74), followed by Bangladesh (88), Sri Lanka (89), Nepal (100),India (134), Bhutan (138), and Afghanistan (162).

'Doing Business in South Asia 2007' is the third report in a series of South Asia regional reports based on the methodology of the annual global Doing Business Report. 'Doing Business' tracks a set of regulatory indicators related to business start-up, operation, trade, payment of taxes, and closure by measuring the time and cost associated with various government requirements.

It does not track variables such as macroeconomic policy, quality of infrastructure, currency volatility, investor perceptions, or crime rates.

According to the report, entrepreneurs in South Asia face large regulatory obstacles to doing business. For example, it takes 18 months of salary, on average in the region, to dismiss a redundant worker.

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