98th overall as a business destination: Forbes survey.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: India is the 98th most desirable destination for companies to do business, according to a new survey released by business magazine Forbes.
The annual survey, released today, examined 145 countries and took into account 11 individual criteria: corruption, freedom (personal, trade, and financial), innovation, investor protection, property rights, red tape, stock market health, taxes, and technology.
India, according to those surveyed, was criticized for having too much political corruption and poverty, and was also scorned because of its treatment of women, something that India has been heavily scrutinized for over the past year following the infamous 2012 Delhi gang rape case.
“India has many long-term challenges that it has yet to fully address,” says Forbes as part of its survey’s description of the country.
In terms of its rankings in individual categories, India was ranked 139 in red tape, 132 in market freedom, 128 in trade freedom, 122 in taxes, 94 in technology, 86 in corruption, 75 in terms of market performance, 55 in property rights, 39 in innovation, and 32 in investment protection. It did not place in the top 30 in any single category.
It isn’t all bad, however. Forbes credits India for slowly developing itself into an open-market economy, and says that India’s growth prospects look very promising in light of the fact that it has a growing youth population and is becoming more and more integrated into the world economy.
“India has capitalized on its large educated English-speaking population to become a major exporter of information technology services, business outsourcing services, and software workers,” says Forbes.
Overall, Forbes lists India’s vital stats at $1.825 billion in total GDP, 6.5% GDP growth, about $1,500 GDP per capita, public debt at 50%, trade balance at -4.4%, unemployment at 8.5% and inflation at 9.3%.
Ireland came in at #1, and also placed first in the category of personal freedom. All but one of its individual category rankings landed in the top 20. New Zealand landed at #2, Hong Kong at #3, and Nordic countries Denmark and Sweden came in at #4 and #5, respectively.
Meanwhile, the US tumbled down to 14th place, trailing Canada at #8, Australia at #11, and the UK at #12. China ended up just above India at #94, while Pakistan trails India at #108.
The full list of Forbes’ best countries in which to do business can be found here.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com