Mismatch between EoDB rank and ground realities in Andhra Pradesh, says GVL

How can the State be ranked number one when there are no new investments and industries are shifting base, he wonders

Andhra Pradesh achieving the top rank in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) given by the Business Reform Action Plan for the year 2020-21 has come as a surprise, especially when the State has seen no new investments and the existing industries are slowly shifting base, BJP Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao has said.

Addressing the media here on Friday, Mr. Narasimha Rao said the ranking was not commensurate with the ground realities.

“I will take up the issue with the authorities concerned and try to find out the basis on which Andhra Pradesh is ranked as number one,” he said.

Concurring with the view, former MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju said that ranking should been given for “cost of doing  business.”

Mr. Narasimha Rao also criticised the State government for failing to control price rise on the one hand and for imposing new taxes. Bus charges had gone up by more than 15% in the recent times, he added.

The Union Government had reduced the cess on excise duty twice in the last six months, but the State government did not make use of it, he observed.

Criticising the State government for not giving a satisfactory answer on what had actually happened to the ₹800 crore that had gone missing from the GPF accounts of the employees, Mr. Narasimha Rao said excuses such as technical error or CFMS mistake sounded lame.