Kerala ranks sixth in NITI Aayog's innovation index, Karnataka tops list

New Delhi: Kerala has emerged as one of the top states in the India Innovation Index 2019, the first-ever innovation ranking of states in India.

Karnataka has topped the list, followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharasthra, a Niti Aayog sponsored report said on Thursday.

Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh were among the other states that topped the innovation index.

Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, on the other hand, trailed on the list.

The India Innovation Index 2019, developed on the lines of Global Innovation Index (GII), looks into the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories to help policymakers design policies to drive innovation across regions.

The report was released by Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar and Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant here.

The ranking was done in three categories -- 'Major States', 'North East and Hill States' and 'Union Territories (UTs)/City and Small States'. Sikkim topped in the North-East category, while Delhi was at the top in the UT segment.

The report, which has captured trends and done deep-drive analyses of various factors that drive innovation at the country, state and pillar levels, envisages to help policymakers and corporates identify some of the issues at a sustainable level in India.

The index has been grouped under two major heads, enablers -- factors that will drive innovation in states and UTs, and performance -- that will measure the actual outcomes in the innovation competitiveness of states.

In terms of attracting investment, the top position was again bagged by Karnataka among major states, followed by Maharashtra, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the nodal agency for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the State, had earlier received the honour of ‘Top Performer’ in the annual States’ start-up 2018 ranking exercise held in New Delhi.

Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab were the least attractive states for investment.

Among North East and Hill States, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura were the top three states; while among the UTs, Lakshadweep, Delhi and Goa were the top three regions.

"For a country as large as India, the sate of innovation needs to be understood at the regional level for effective policy formulation. A policy just at the national level is not enough. Each state needs to formulate its own policy, based on its unique resources and strengths and which caters to the specific needs," the report said.

Kumar said innovation has always been a driver of change and progress in any economy as it disrupts traditional practices and businesses.

"The first ever India Innovation Index will help create a conducive ecosystem for innovation to flourish across the country. Such an index will not only help to devise their own strategy for fostering an innovation climate, it will also enable them to benchmark their performance with other states," Kumar pointed out.

Amitabh Kant said that India Innovation Index is another initiative that has been launched by the Niti Aayog to analyse and enhance the innovation environment at the state level in India.

"The index will be useful to states and union territories by benchmarking their performance against their peers to understand reasons for differential performance and devise better strategies towards creating an environment that fosters innovation," Kant said.

(With inputs from PTI.)