India’s global ranking in terms of protection of minority investors has slipped three notches to 13th, but remains much higher than the country’s overall 130th rank for ease of doing business. The sub-ranking for protection of minority investors is topped jointly by New Zealand and Singapore.
Others that ranked higher than India are Hong Kong, Malaysia, Kazakhstan, the UK, Georgia, Canada, Norway, the UAE, Slovenia and Israel. In the World Bank’s latest ‘Doing Business’ report, India’s place remained unchanged from last year’s original ranking of 130 among the 190 economies that were assessed on various parameters. However, the last year's ranking has been now revised to 131 from which the country has improved its place by one spot. The list of countries in the Doing Business 2017 is topped by Kiwis while Singapore is ranked 2nd.
The report said protection of minority investors indicator measures the protection of shareholders against directors’ misuse of corporate assets for personal gain and the rights and role of shareholders in corporate governance. As per the the report, India carried out an ambitious, multi-year overhaul of its Companies Act, bringing Indian firms in line with global standards, particularly in respect of accountability and corporate governance practices while ensuring businesses contribute more to shared prosperity through a quantified and legislated corporate socialresponsibility requirement.