AKIPRESS.COM - Despite all the hype about India’s booming startup culture, the World Economic Forum (WEF) says it is one of the worst places in the world for small business owners, Quarts reports.

After assessing factors such as ease of starting and running a business, attitudes toward entrepreneurial failure, tax policies, number of new business registrations and patent applications, the WEF has ranked India lowest among 38 lower middle income economies.

According to the Geneva-based non-profit organization, lower middle income economies are countries with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita between $1,320 and $5,999. India is ranked lower than Mongolia, Tunisia and Pakistan.

In another report, World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2015, India was ranked 142 among 189 nations – behind countries such as Iran, Nepal, Uzbekistan, Kenya and Ethiopia. Mongolia, meanwhile, is the 72nd.

And, even though India has seen a massive boom in the number of technology startups in the last few years, most of these new businesses – which focus on the Indian market and have their operations in the country – opt to register themselves overseas.