India is now placed at 39th position in Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) survey released by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The union finance minister Arun Jaitley said that in an extremely positive development, data released today by the World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that India’s ranking in the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) has improved by 16 places for the second year in a row. According to the latest ranking, he said that India is placed 39th among 138 countries, ahead of BRICS countries other than China which is ranked 28th.
Arun Jaitley said, "India's rank has steadily improved from 71 in 2014-15 to 55 in 2015-16 and to 39 in the latest report. With this improvement in its ranking, India has covered a long distance and is well on its way to emerge as a major player in the global economy."
The Global Competitiveness Index released by the World Economic Forum is one of the major studies which indicates how a country scores in the scale of global competitiveness. The Index is calculated by aggregating indicators across 12 pillars which again are clubbed together in three broad sub-indices, namely basic requirements, efficiency enhancers and innovation and sophistication factors.
The report covers both business and social indicators which, directly or indirectly, impacts the competitiveness of the country in the global arena.
The landmark improvement in the global competitiveness rankings India is in consequence of the structural reforms and policy initiatives taken by government of India in the last two years and should be viewed as an encouragement to us to continue with the agenda of reforms which would further streamline economic decision making and help us move up on the index of global competitiveness.
The 12 pillars underlying GCI include institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation.
India’s competitiveness has improved this year across the board, in particular in goods market efficiency, business sophistication and innovation. The macroeconomic environment also improved due to better monetary and fiscal policies and lower oil prices.
There is however no room for complacency and government will continue to focus on areas which need improvement. In the coming months and years, significant improvement in goods market efficiency may be expected from the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax which will reduce fragmentation of the domestic market.
