28.9.17

India listed 40th most competitive economy

India has been ranked as the 40th most competitive economy, slipping one place from last year's ranking, on the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index, which is topped by Switzerland.

On the list of 137 economies, Switzerland is followed by the US and Singapore in second and third places, respectively. In the latest Global Competitiveness Report, India has slipped from the 39th position to 40th while neighbouring China is ranked at 27th.

“India stabilises this year after its big leap forward of the previous two years,“ the report said, adding that the score has improved across most pillars of competitiveness. These include infrastructure (66), higher education and training (75) and technological readiness (107), reflecting recent public investments in these areas, it added. According to the report, India's performance also improved in information and communications technologies indicators, particularly internet bandwidth per user, mobile phone and broadband subscriptions, and internet access in schools.

However, the WEF said the private sector still considers corruption to be the most problematic factor for doing business in India.

“A big concern for India is the disconnect between its innovative strength (29) and its technological readiness (up 3 to 107) -as long as this gap remains large, India will not be able to fully leverage its technological strengths across the wider economy ,“ it noted.

Among the BRICS, China and Russia (38) are placed above India.

South Africa and Brazil are placed at 61st and 80th spots, respectively .

In South Asia, India has garnered the highest ranking, followed by Bhutan (82), Sri Lanka (85), Nepal (88), Bangladesh (99) and Pakistan (115).

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