Andhra Pradesh emerged as the top ranked state in the Union governments latest ease of doing business index for states released on Tuesday.

As per the index, jointly prepared by the World Bank and the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Andhra Pradesh is followed by neighbouring Telangana, and Haryana is in third place.

DIPP, Ministry of Commerce and Industry in collaboration with the World Bank conducted an annual reform exercise for all States and UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP).

The aim of this exercise is to improve delivery of various Central Government regulatory functions and services in an efficient, effective and transparent manner.

The reform plan has expanded from 285 to 372 action points till 2017. States and UTs have conducted reforms to ease their regulations and systems in areas such as labour, environmental clearances, single window system, construction permits, contract enforcement, registering property and inspections.

States and UTs have also enacted Public Service Delivery Guarantee Act to enforce the timelines on registrations and approvals.

The current assessment under the BRAP 2017 is based ona combined score consisting of Reform evidence score that is based on evidences uploaded by the States and UTs and Feedback scorethat is based on the feedback garnered from the actual users of the services provided to the businesses.

It is for the first time that DIPP has introduced taking feedback to ensure that the reforms have actually reached ground level.