India slipped two notches to rank at 122nd, below neighbours including Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan in the 'Doing Business Report 2009' prepared jointly by the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank.

The report which ranks countries on the basis of ease of doing business has placed Nepal above India at 121^st position, Bangladesh at 110th place and Pakistan at 77th place in the overall ranking.

The 2008 report had ranked India at 120th position, while Pakistan was at 74th place.

Singapore retained the first place in ranking, which covered 181 countries of the world that provides quantitative measure of regulation for starting a business, getting credit, paying taxes, enforcing contracts and closing a business.

Among south Asian countries, India was ranked the lowest as far as procedure to start a business is concerned. In terms of number of days to set up an enterprise, the country has an advantage over Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

The Doing Business Report said it takes 30 days to set up a business in India, 73 in Bangladesh and 38 in Sri Lanka. Interestingly, the report added that an entrepreneur can start a business in 9 days in Afghanistan and Maldives, and in 24 days in Pakistan.

The top slot in the category was occupied by New Zealand where one can operate a business within 24 hours.

Closing a business enterprise in India continues to a difficult job. The report said the insolvency procedure in India may take 10 years as compared to 5 in Nepal and 2.8 in Pakistan.

The report further said that it could take up to 1,420 days (about fours years) to enforce a contract in India as compared to less than six months in Singapore.

The cost of enforcing a contract in India could be as high as 39.6 per cent as against 23.8 per cent in Pakistan and 22.8 per cent in Sri Lanka.

Procedures to enforce a contract, the report said, are equally cumbersome in Pakistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

India, however, fared better in trade policy. According to the report, it takes 17 days to export as compared to 24 in Pakistan, 41 in Nepal and 74 in Afghanistan.

Similarly, it takes 20 days to import goods into India as against 32 in Bangladesh and 35 in Nepal. It may take 77 days to import goods in Afghanistan, the report said.