India to move up rapidly in ease of doing business ranking: Arun Jaitley

Tokyo, Jun 1: India will move up "rapidly" on the Ease of Doing Business ranking within a couple of years following an array of reforms undertaken by the government to ease rules, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today.

India ranks at 130th out of 189 economies on the World Bank's Doing Business report, which is topped by Singapore as the easiest country in which to do business. Though India has moved four places up, it ranks way below China, which is placed at 84th position.

"India has taken a number of steps to ease doing business and I have not the least doubt that over the next 1-2 years we will move up more rapidly in the Ease of Doing Business ranking," he said at a conference organised by Institute of International Economic Studies here.

Jaitley, on a six-day investor wooing tour of Japan, said India's taxation system required some more reforms.

"Major reforms are underway as far as direct tax system is concerned. It is work in progress because all exemptions have to be phased out and corporate tax has to be brought down to 25 per cent (from current 30 per cent)," he said.

Stating that retrospective taxation can no longer visit an investor investing in India, he said that any form of unpredictability or surprise is being done away with. He advised Japanese investors, wanting to invest in India, to be "very patient.

"It will pay to be very patient. As you say the Japanese companies have been very patient." A combination of Japanese innovation and technology with human resource of India can be rewarding in a market as big as India where the purchasing power of that market was rising.

"And therefore the Japanese companies have a lot to look forward to as far as the Indian market is concerned," he said. India, he said, is passing through a phase where the per capita income of every Indian is going to increase significantly over the next decade.

"With the purchasing power increasing...I think this is the right time for those who haven't entered India to enter India. The markets are open, the entry has been made far easier and wide open and as a fast growing economy in the world those who don't look at Indian market will miss a great opportunity," he added.

PTI