CDS (II) 2020 General Knowledge · Question 2 of 120

Correct — C, Registering property. Of the four parameters listed, this is the only one on which India actually slipped. The two editions the stem is comparing are Doing Business 2015, released in October 2014, where India stood 142nd of 189 economies, and Doing Business 2020, released in October 2019, where it stood 63rd of 190. On registering property India went from 121st to 154th — worse by 33 places, and with a score of only 47.6 out of 100 in the later edition, held down by nine procedures taking 58 days. The other three moved the right way over the same span: starting a business 158th to 136th, getting electricity 137th to 22nd, and paying taxes 156th to 115th. Most of India's headline climb came from a handful of parameters like getting electricity and dealing with construction permits, not from an even improvement across the board.

• (a)Ease of starting a business — India improved here, from 158th in Doing Business 2015 to 136th in Doing Business 2020. The gain was modest, which may be why the option is tempting, but the direction is upward.
• (b)Getting electricity — This was India's single most dramatic gain — 137th to 22nd. New connection procedures were cut to four and the time to about 53 days.
• (d)Paying taxes — India rose from 156th to 115th, helped by online filing and payment and by the consolidation of many indirect taxes into GST.

The World Bank's Doing Business report scored 190 economies on ten areas of business regulation and combined them into one ease of doing business rank. Each area was measured on a standard case study in the largest business city, so the numbers describe the procedures, days and costs a hypothetical small firm would face rather than the health of the economy. India's climb from 142nd to 63rd in five years became a much quoted statistic, and the interesting question is always which components carried it.

This is an averages question in disguise. A large improvement in an aggregate index is perfectly consistent with one or two components going backwards, and registering property is the standing example for India. Land and property registration is a State subject handled by State revenue departments and municipal offices, so it was largely untouched by the central reforms that moved electricity connections and tax filing. A further wrinkle is that a rank can fall even when a country stands still, because other economies reform faster. Present-day position: the World Bank discontinued Doing Business on 14 September 2021 after an audit found that its leadership had pressed staff to alter results in the 2018 and 2020 editions, so Doing Business 2020 is the last edition and the 63rd rank is a frozen number. Its replacement, Business Ready, was launched in October 2024 on a different methodology, and ranks from the two are not comparable.

• Doing Business 2015 put India 142nd of 189 economies; Doing Business 2020 put India 63rd of 190.
• Registering property: 121st in Doing Business 2015, 154th in Doing Business 2020 — the only one of the four listed parameters to deteriorate.
• Getting electricity was the biggest single gain, from 137th to 22nd.
• Two indicators where India remained weak in the 2020 edition were enforcing contracts, 163rd, with a case taking about 1,445 days, and registering property, 154th.
• The report was discontinued by the World Bank on 14 September 2021; the successor exercise, Business Ready, appeared in October 2024.

• Assuming a big jump in the overall rank means every component improved. Registering property is the counter-example.
• Confusing the report year with the data year — Doing Business 2015 was published in October 2014, which is why the stem calls it '142 in 2014'.
• Quoting India's 63rd rank as though it were current. There has been no Doing Business edition since 2020.

As a which-parameter-moved item on India's Doing Business record, or as a straightforward question on which body published the index.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Doing Business report, in which India was ranked 63rd in its final edition, was published by which one of the following?

  • (a)World Economic Forum
  • (b)World Bank Group
  • (c)International Monetary Fund
  • (d)Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

  Answer(b) World Bank Group — Doing Business was a World Bank publication, discontinued in September 2021 after a review of data irregularities.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the last edition of the Doing Business report, India's weakest showing among the following was on which parameter?

  • (a)Getting electricity
  • (b)Protecting minority investors
  • (c)Enforcing contracts
  • (d)Getting credit

  Answer(c) Enforcing contracts — India stood 163rd, with a standard commercial dispute taking about 1,445 days, against 22nd for getting electricity, 13th for protecting minority investors and 25th for getting credit.