Karnataka, Telangana and Haryana have been ranked as the top three states among 17 major states in Niti Aayog's third innovation index. Niti Aayog's India Innovation Index 2021 examines innovation capacities and ecosystems at the sub-national level.
The index, released by Niti Aayog's Vice Chairman Suman Bery in the presence of Chief Executive Officer Parameswaran Iyer on Thursday, has been developed on the lines of the Global Innovation Index.
States and Union Territories were divided into '17 Major States', '10 North-East and Hill States', and '9 Union Territories and City States', for effectively comparing their performance. Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Bihar have been ranked at the bottom of the index among major states. Karnataka topped the index for the third year in a row. Among Union Territories, Chandigarh topped the chart, while in the North-East and Hill States category, Manipur occupied the top spot.
"Among the 17 major states, Karnataka, with a score of 18.01, is the top performer, followed by Telangana and Haryana. Chhattisgarh has scored the least, 10.97. And the average score for the major states' category is 14.02," the index showed.
The overall index score is 14.56.
According to the index, Karnataka's high score can be attributed to its peak performance in attracting FDI and a large number of venture capital deals. Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have registered significant gains in promoting an innovative business environment with a large base of internet subscribers and a safe ecosystem for further investment in the region, it said. The average score of North-East and Hill States' category was 14.41, the index said, adding that Manipur with a score of 19.37 was at the top and Nagaland with a score of 11 was at the bottom.
While Manipur scored best in the knowledge workers and safety and legal environment pillars, Uttarakhand had the second highest score due to the state government's high R&D investment.