Ease of Doing Business ranking for the states in India is released by –

Correct — option (2), Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

The assessment of States on ease of doing business is a Union Government exercise. It is run by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Rajasthan's Economic Review 2023-24 states it directly: DPIIT issues a yearly Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) for the States and releases the Ease of Doing Business ranking for them.

The exercise has two steps. DPIIT lists the reforms States should carry out, then assesses how well each State implemented them. The BRAP 2020 assessment gave full weight to feedback from actual users on the ground.

The other three options name State-level bodies — in Rajasthan, the Department of Industries and Commerce, the Bureau of Investment Promotion and RAJSICO. They implement or promote business reforms inside one State; none of them assesses all States.

The idea to remember: DPIIT sets the reform plan and assesses the States; State departments implement it.

Why the others are wrong

• (1)
  Department of Industry and Commerce — This is a State department, not the body that assesses States.

  In Rajasthan, the Department of Industries and Commerce is the nodal department for Ease of Doing Business initiatives, according to the Economic Review 2023-24. It carries out the BRAP reforms that DPIIT prescribes; DPIIT then assesses the State's performance.

• (3)
  Investment Promotion Bureau — The name points to Rajasthan's Bureau of Investment Promotion (BIP), the State's investment promotion agency since 1991.

  BIP facilitates large investment proposals in Rajasthan and acts as an interface between investors and the government for speedy clearances. The One Stop Shop facility sits in BIP. It promotes investment in one State; it does not rank States.

• (4)
  Rajasthan Small Industry Corporation Limited (RAJSICO) — RAJSICO is a State corporation, set up in June 1961, to assist small-scale industries and help artisans market their products.

  It also runs export infrastructure, including Inland Container Depots at Jaipur and Jodhpur and an Air Cargo Complex. Its work is commercial support for Rajasthan's small units, not assessing States.

Ease of doing business measures how simple it is to start and run a business: approvals, inspections, land, labour, taxes and access to information.

India assesses its States through the Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP). DPIIT prescribes a set of reform points, States implement them, and DPIIT evaluates the result. PIB's release on BRAP 2020 says DPIIT has been assessing States in this way since 2014.

Earlier editions ranked States by number. From BRAP 2020, announced on 30 June 2022, States were grouped into four categories instead: Top Achievers, Achievers, Aspirers and Emerging Business Ecosystems.

Key facts

• DPIIT, in the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry, issues the Business Reform Action Plan for States and assesses their implementation.
• PIB's release on BRAP 2020 says DPIIT has assessed States on BRAP implementation since 2014; assessments were released for 2015, 2016, 2017-18 and 2019.
• BRAP 2020, the fifth edition, was announced on 30 June 2022 and had 301 reform points across 15 business regulatory areas.
• In BRAP 2020, Rajasthan was placed in the Aspirers category.
• In Rajasthan, the Department of Industries and Commerce is the nodal department for Ease of Doing Business initiatives.

Common traps

• State ranking on ease of doing business is DPIIT's (Union) exercise; country ranking was the World Bank's Doing Business Report. Keep the two rankings and their sponsors apart.
• Since BRAP 2020, DPIIT groups States into categories (Top Achievers, Achievers, Aspirers, Emerging Business Ecosystems) rather than giving numbered ranks. A question asking for a State's rank number in a recent edition may not have one.
• Rajasthan's own bodies with similar names — Department of Industries and Commerce, Bureau of Investment Promotion — implement or promote reforms in the State. They do not assess States.

UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2021 here once that paper is published on this site.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  In the assessment of States under Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) 2020, released in June 2022, Rajasthan was placed in which category?

  • (a)Top Achievers
  • (b)Achievers
  • (c)Aspirers
  • (d)Emerging Business Ecosystems
  Answer(3) — PIB's release lists Rajasthan among the Aspirers, along with Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Jharkhand, Kerala and West Bengal. Option (1) included Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat; option (2) included Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh; option (4) included Bihar and Delhi.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which of the following is the nodal department for Ease of Doing Business initiatives in Rajasthan?

  • (a)Department of Planning
  • (b)Department of Industries and Commerce
  • (c)Finance Department
  • (d)Department of Information Technology and Communication
  Answer(2) — The Economic Review 2023-24 names the Department of Industries and Commerce as the nodal department. Options (1), (3) and (4) are State departments with other roles — planning, public finance and IT — and are not named as the EoDB nodal department.