New Delhi, Oct 31 (KNN) Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are the most easiest states to do business in with scores more than 98 per cent while Maharashtra and Delhi stand at 10th and 19th ranks respectively.

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today released a report on State-wise Ease of Doing Business rankings.

The rankings are on the basis of 340-point business reform action plan and their implementation by the States. This covers the period from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.

Gujarat which was at first position last year slipped to third position this year scoring 98.21 per cent.

Surprisingly, among southern states, Tamil Nadu stood at 18th position, Kerala at 20th and Karnataka at 13th.

Among Northern states, Haryana was at 6th, Jharkhand 7th, Punjab 12th, Uttar Pradesh 14th and Chandigarh was at 33rd position in terms of Ease of Doing Business.

Rajasthan, which has been the first state to implement several reforms, stood at 8th position scoring96.43 per cent.

West Bengal was 15th in rank and Bihar 16th, whereas Delhi was below all these states.

While launching the report, Sitharaman said that the government is set to launch a new index on “agricultural marketing & farm-friendly reforms” this year.

“We are looking at broad-basing the reform drive,” Sitharaman said.

“There is a healthy competition among States on ease of doing business index,” she noted, adding that “these indices are important aspects in the government's agenda to transform India.” (KNN Bureau)