'Gujarat model may help India jump 50 spots in ease of doing business'

New Delhi, July 23 (IANS) India, which is current placed 134th in the World Bank's ease of doing business report, would jump 50 spots by implementing the Gujarat model of reforms, World Bank group president Jim Yong Kim said Wednesday.

Talking to media persons after meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi here, Kim said the new government must focus on improving the business environment.

He said what Modi did in Gujarat as chief minister, if implemented nationally, would significantly improve ease of doing business.

In the World Bank's ease of doing business report released recently, India was placed at the 134th spot out of 189 countries.

On criticism of the report, Kim said the report was not perfect but provides a very important guide to the businesses and policy makers globally.

Several countries, including India, voiced concern over the report's methodology.

"The report ranks countries according to the regulations in place only for small and medium enterprises but which, owing to its name, often gets mistaken to refer to general business environment," Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said recently in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

"The government has indicated its concerns about the indicators used, methodology, sample size, use of ranking, neglect of qualitative and country specific business environment etc. to the World Bank," Jaitley said.

Kim said the government's concerns were genuine and the World Bank was trying to improve the report and make it more relevant.