World Bank has ranked Gujarat as the top state in ease of doing business in India with a 71.14 percent score, followed by Andhra Pradesh (70.12 percent), Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh among the top five states.
Sponsored by the Department of Industry Policy and Promotion (DIPP), the "Assessment of State Implementation of Business Reforms report was prepared by World Bank in association with KPMG, CII and FICCI.
Among the major states, West Bengal occupied the 11th slot, Tamil Nadu (12th), Haryana (14th), Delhi (15th), Punjab (16th), Himachal Pradesh (17th), Kerala (18th), Goa (19th), Bihar (21st) and Assam (22nd).
Arunachal Pradesh is ranked the last with 1.23 percent.
The ranking of the states was based on eight specified parameters which include setting up of business, allotment of land, labour reforms and procedure for environmental clearance.
Other parameters included infrastructure, procedure for registration for tax purposes and inspections for compliance of various norms.
India is a difficult place to do business and concerted action and reforms are needed on several fronts to improve its ranking in the global 'Doing Business Index', World Bank country director Onno Ruhl said.
"... the need of the day is reform, and the reforms must be led by the government at both central and state levels," he said in a foreword to the report.
India is ranked 142nd among 189 nations in the World Bank's Doing Business 2015 study.
"The growth of business in India requires concerted action on several fronts - infrastructure, capital markets, trade facilitation and skills - but the stark reality is that India remains a difficult place to do business."
India, he said, does not feature in the top 100 countries on eight of the 10 indicators of the World Bank study.
Among other things, Ruhl said the Indian government should focus on implementing reforms relating to starting a business, resolving insolvency, enforcing contracts, and trading across borders.
Appreciating the government's efforts to improve ease of doing business, he said: "A pleasing aspect of the effort of the last one year has been the lead taken by government of India in pushing through an agreed set of reforms in the states."
However, "much more is required to be done at state governments level to achieve the Prime Minister's vision of making India an easy place to do business," Ruhl said.
