Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu among top performers in NITI Aayog's Investment Friendliness Index
New Delhi, July 17
Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Odisha have emerged as the top performers in NITI Aayog's Investment Friendliness Index, which assesses how effectively states and Union Territories create and sustain an environment conducive to investment.
NITI Aayog released the "Investment Friendliness Index" report on Friday, providing a data-driven framework to benchmark investment ecosystems across all 28 states and eight Union Territories.
"Based on the overall assessment, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Odisha have emerged as the Top Performers in the Investment Friendliness Index," the government think tank said in a release.
The index evaluates investment attractiveness across eight pillars: infrastructure, business climate, resources, government policy, regulatory ease, institutional environment, financial health and environmental resilience. Its framework comprises 84 indicators, combining secondary data with perception-based measures from a survey of investors.
States and Union Territories have been divided into four categories based on their overall scores -- top performers, frontrunners, emerging performers and aspiring states. While five states were named top performers, 15 were classified as frontrunners. Eight states and Union Territories each were placed in the emerging performers and aspiring states categories.
Among large states, Gujarat secured the first rank, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Uttarakhand ranked first among hilly and North-Eastern states, followed by Assam and Himachal Pradesh. Goa led the city states and Union Territories category, followed by Delhi and Chandigarh.
"Beyond ranking performance, the IFI serves as a catalyst for reforms by identifying strengths, highlighting areas for improvement, promoting the adoption of best practices, and encouraging peer learning," the release said.
NITI Aayog said the index seeks to encourage states and Union Territories to undertake continuous reforms, strengthen India's competitiveness and attract greater domestic and foreign investment.
— ANI
Reader Comments
As someone from Tamil Nadu, I'm proud but also cautious. These indices are good for headlines, but ground reality for small businesses is still tough. Red tape hasn't disappeared completely. Still, any step towards transparency is welcome.
Interesting that Goa made the list. With tourism being their mainstay, I guess the focus is shifting to attracting investment beyond beaches. But 84 indicators seems a lot - how many are actually meaningful? 🤔
Finally, some data-driven approach! Instead of states just claiming they are 'investor-friendly', we now have a standard metric. Hope this pushes laggards like Bihar and UP to improve. Competition is good for development.
I'm from Odisha and honestly, this is heartening. We've been known for minerals but lack of industry for decades. Naveen Patnaik's government has been quietly working on this. But need to see if this translates to actual jobs for our youth.
As an investor looking at India, this kind of ranking is very useful. But I wish the index included something about labor laws and ease of hiring/firing. That's a big concern for many foreign companies. Still, step in right direction. 👍
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