And WB prize for the best city to do business in India goes to..

Ludiana is the best city for doing business in India, according to the World Bank.

The bank’s annual “Doing Business” report, released on Thursday, ranked Ludhiana as India’s easiest place to do business, followed by Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar, Gurgaon, Ahmedabad and New Delhi.

Mumbai is ranked 10th on the list, Bangalore is 13th, Chennai is 15th and Kolkata is 17th.

This year’s report ranked economies on the basis of 10 areas of regulation - starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency (formerly closing a business).

Ludhaina was ranked on top for paying taxes and second for resolving insolvencies.

[caption id=“attachment_112359” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Ludhianawas ranked on top for paying taxes and second for resolving insolvencies.”]  [/caption]

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Countrywise, however, India was awarded a lowly rank of 132 among 183 countries on the ease of doing business, although that is seven notches up from last year’s ranking.

Singapore ranked as the world’s easiest place to do business, followed by Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United States and Denmark.

A high ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.

India’s rankingwas below

those of several developing countries, including Mongolia (86),Kazakhstan(47) and the restive West Bank and Gaza in the Middle East (131).

It takes nearly four years (1,420 days) to enforce a business contract in India on average, according to World Bank.

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On average, Indian entrepreneurs also needed to complete 12 procedures to start and get a business off the ground, which can take an average of 29 days, the World Bank said.

On the issue of enforcing a contract, India rated an abysmal No.182, taking a whopping 1,420 days on average. The best performer on this score is Luxembourg, which took just 321 days.

While trying to get construction permits, entrepreneurs have to go through 34 procedures that can take up to 227 days. In contrast, it takes only one day and one procedure to start a business in New Zealand, which topped this score. Registering property in India is also tough, involving up to 46 procedures.

Getting electricity also takes 67 days and involves seven procedures, compared with best global performer on this count, Germany, where it takes only 3 procedures and 17 days.

In the year to June 2011, “Doing Business” found that 125 economies implemented 245 reforms to make it easier to do business - an increase of 13 percent over the previous year.