World Bank: Patna better than Mumbai to start business

This may come as a big surprise to some of you, but a World Bank study says that Patna is ahead of Mumbai when it comes to the ease of starting a business.

According to the World Bank ranking announced on Tuesday, Patna is second only to New Delhi in this regard, but way ahead of Mumbai.

Of the 17 cities that figured in the World Bank and International Finance Corporation’s ‘Doing Business In India 2009′ report. So check out which are the other Indian cities, according to the World Bank, where it is easy to start a business…

Of the 17 cities considered, Patna was ranked 14th, above Chennai, which stood at 15th position, while Kolkata was at the bottom of the list. Mumbai was place 16th, way below many Indian cities.

Starting a business measures the necessary steps to enable a small or medium enterprise in general commercial or industrial activities to operate legally in 17 Indian cities — including permits, inscriptions, notifications and inspections.

The report further said doing business is the easiest in Ludhiana, followed by Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad, New Delhi, Jaipur and Guwahati.

It is easier to pay taxes in Ludhiana, Jaipur and Noida, while it is difficult to do so in Chennai, Kolkata and Patna. The report ranks the cities based on seven parameters - starting a business, dealing with construction permits, registering property, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

Strangely, the World Bank rankings do not take into account the macroeconomic conditions, infrastructure, workforce skills or security.

The report said that it is easier to start and operate business in India than it was three years ago in many large cities of the country.

It said starting a business is the fastest in Mumbai and Noida, while in cost terms, business start-up is least expensive in Patna.

Paying taxes records all taxes and mandatory contributions that a medium-sized company must pay as well as measures the administration burden of paying taxes and contributions.

According to the report, that it is the easiest to export and import goods from Bhubaneswar, while it is most difficult from Gurgaon.

The report also said that compared to economies world wide, cities in India lag most in the ease of closing a business and paying taxes.

In India, where more than 90 per cent of jobs are in the informal sector, regulatory reforms can help businesses operate efficiently in the formal sector, it said.

“Reforms that cut red tape, clarify property rights, and streamline regulatory compliance, can yield big payoff for firms and workers,” World Bank group financial and private sector development acting vice-president Penelope Brook said in a CII function.

(Source: http://www.naachgaana.com/2009/06/30/world-bank-patna-better-than-mumbai-to-start-business/)

Sharon Bamford, CEO of UK India Business Council talks about i2I at the dinner hosted by UK High Commission in the evening

Sharon Bamford, CEO of UK India Business Council talks about her experience at i2I Finals

Saurabh Mehta from Indavest Partners talks about his experience at i2I Finals

IIM Calcutta's B-Plan Competition Results OUT

The grand finale of i2I ’09 (ideas to Implementation), organized by the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIM-Calcutta jointly with Intaglio was conducted with the 9 best business plans being presented to a jury panel. Last year, i2I’ 08 became a springboard for 4 finalists to launch their own firms successfully. This year the event featured business plans across various sectors including IT/ITES, manufacturing, social initiatives, healthcare, alternate technologies, and media. Jury members found all the plans to have good growth opportunities and market potential. At the end, however, 2 business plans – Aksharit (Dhariwal Bros. from Jodhpur) in the field of Toys & Games Industry, and HelloDoctor24X7 (7 doctors, 5 engineers and 5 MBAs from Orissa) in the field of E-health and Telemedicine - were identified that were fundable and VCs have indicated they wish to follow up with them in the future.
The jury panel consisted of eminent personalities like Sharon Bamford, CEO of UK India Business Council; Saurabh Mehta from Indavest Partners; Prof Trevor Newsom from Queens University Belfast; Shoummo Accharya, President TiE Kolkata; Bikram Dasgupta, Founder & CEO of Globsyn Group of Industries; Prof Anjan Raichaudhari; Shradha Sharma, Founder & CEO of Yourstory.in; Vasant Subramanyan, Founder & CEO of Last Peak Data. All the jury members agreed that the quality of preparation of the teams was unparalleled and their plans were very well presented and well researched.
Both Sharon and Saurabh felt that although all the 9 plans were good, these two plans Aksharit and HelloDoctor24x7 are fundable and they would initiate mentoring and the process of negotiations with these two teams.
Canaan Partners, an Investment Partner offered all the 9 teams a chance to further interact and meet them in their office for discussions.
All the teams were extremely pleased with the arrangements and had a special mention for the extremely constructive feedback given by the jury. The comment by one of the teams “we have been to other IIMs but the professionalism with which the event has been handled, it has been truly memorable” really summarized succinctly the whole event.

Regards,
Entrepreneurship Cell