: For a State that boasted of record investments received during the Global Investors Meet last year, the recent Ease of Doing Business report from the World Bank must come as a jolt.
Among 17 cities ranked by the report, Chennai ranks a dismal 15. Only Kochi and Kolkata are further behind. Ludhiana tops the list among 17 cities.
Chennai has performed well only on two parameters – trading across borders, where it is ranked second, and dealing with construction permits, where the city comes third.
Under the ‘ease of starting a business’ category, the city is ranked 10th . The World Bank report has defined this as “the bureaucratic and legal hurdles an entrepreneur must overcome to incorporate and register a new firm”. It also examines the time taken, procedures and costs involved to start a commercial or industrial firm with up to 50 employees.
On an average, it takes 34 days and nearly 13 procedures to start a business in Chennai; the all-India average is 26 days and about 12.9 procedures.
Chennai also ranks the lowest among all the Indian cities under the metric ‘Paying Taxes’. While there are 68 tax payments to be made in a year, it takes up to 292 hours a year to file the papers.
“In doing business (in Chennai), there are definitely challenges. In Tamil Nadu, there are political challenges as well. Our members have often brought up the issue of the State electricity board as well; it has a poor record when it comes to making payments,” Sunil Kanoria, President, Assocham, told The Hindu.
