India remains the most competitive country in South Asia, appearing at No. 40 in the global competitiveness ranking of 137 countries by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The ranking is one lower than last year’s, but the two rankings are not comparable because of a change in the methodology, WEF said. WEF said India’s score is its highest ever according to the current methodology, which ranked Switzerland as the world’s most competitive economy. India’s competitiveness has improved, the report said. Among the emerging markets seen as having great potential in the early 2000s, Brazil and Turkey have now lost much of the ground they gained before 2013, but China, India and Indonesia continue to improve. The report, however, cautioned against risks from uncertain global economic conditions. India (40th) stabilizes this year after its big leap forward of the previous two years. The score improves across most pillars of competitiveness, particularly infrastructure (66th, up by two), higher education and training (75th, up by six), and technological readiness (107th, up by three), reflecting recent public investments in these areas. However, concerns remain on doing business. The private sector still considers corruption to be the most problematic factor for doing business in India.

(Live Mint)