Over 40,000 reforms carried out in last decade for ease of business; Gujarat emerges as front-runner: DPIIT Secy
State governments have implemented more than 40,000 reforms over the past decade under a business reforms framework laid down by the central government
Gujarat has emerged as a front-runner among states in carrying out these reforms
The update was shared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Secretary at an investment summit curtain-raiser event
India was described as among the fastest-growing major economies and an attractive destination for global investment, attributed to joint Centre-state efforts
Government initiatives and free trade agreements were cited as contributing to industrial competitiveness and product quality standards
Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP)
BRAP is DPIIT's framework for assessing and ranking states/UTs on the ease of doing business reforms they implement, covering areas such as land, labour, environment clearances, construction permits, and inspection systems. Introduced to create healthy competitive federalism among states on the investment climate, BRAP assessments combine documentary evidence submitted by states with direct feedback from businesses using the reformed systems.
Key Details
- Nodal department: DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- Assessment structure: reform areas spanning both business-facing and citizen-facing services (recent cycles cover roughly 25 reform areas — about 15 business-related and 10 citizen-centric)
- Methodology: weighted combination of state-submitted evidence and feedback from businesses/citizens who actually used the reformed process
- Rankings use categories such as "Top Achiever" rather than simple numerical ranks in recent cycles
- Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala have been recognised as Top Performers/Achievers in recent assessment cycles
The "40,000 reforms" figure cited is the cumulative count of state-level actions tracked and verified through the BRAP mechanism over the past ten assessment cycles, with Gujarat's consistent top-tier performance underlying its cited front-runner status.
India's Ease of Doing Business Trajectory (Cooperative Federalism in Economic Reform)
Ease of doing business reform in India operates on two tracks: the (now-discontinued) World Bank Doing Business global ranking, and the domestic BRAP mechanism for intra-country competitive federalism. India's global rank rose from 142nd (2014) to 63rd (2019, in the 2020 report) before the World Bank discontinued the Doing Business report in September 2021 following a data-integrity investigation. Since then, DPIIT's domestic BRAP framework has become the primary tool for benchmarking reform at the state level.
Key Details
- World Bank Doing Business report discontinued: 16 September 2021, after investigators found data manipulation (including pressure to favourably alter China's ranking)
- India's best recorded global rank: 63rd out of 190 countries (2020 report, based on 2019 data), up from 142nd in 2014
- Post-discontinuation, India's ease-of-business narrative rests on domestic metrics: BRAP rankings, National Single Window System (NSWS) clearances, and FDI inflow data
- DPIIT also administers Startup India recognition, which is separate from BRAP but often cited alongside it as evidence of reform
With the global index discontinued, DPIIT's own cumulative reform count (40,000+) and state rankings under BRAP are now the principal official evidence base cited for India's investment climate — as reflected in this statement.
DPIIT — Institutional Role and Mandate
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade functions under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and is responsible for formulating and implementing industrial policy, promoting FDI, administering IPR policy, coordinating Startup India, and running BRAP. It was renamed from the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) on 27 January 2019, when "internal trade" was added to its mandate.
The statement on 40,000 reforms was made by the DPIIT Secretary — the department directly responsible for designing and administering the BRAP framework being referenced.
- Cumulative state-level business reforms in the past decade: 40,000+
- DPIIT renamed from DIPP: 27 January 2019
- India's peak World Bank Doing Business rank: 63rd (2020 report), up from 142nd (2014)
- World Bank discontinued the Doing Business report: 16 September 2021
- Recent BRAP "Top Performer/Achiever" states include Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Jammu & Kashmir
- Gujarat's stated economic ambition cited: reaching a USD 3.5 trillion economy