Meghalaya was placed at the bottom among states in the North East and hill states of India in the latest ranking of India Innovation Index.
The India Innovation Index 2020 was released by NITI Aayog, along with the Institute for Competitiveness on January 20.
The report examines the innovation capabilities and performance of the states and union territories. The first edition of the index was launched in October 2019.
In the category of North East and hill states, Himachal Pradesh tops the ranking with a score of 25.06 followed by Uttarakhand (23.50) and Manipur (22.78).
The fourth position was bagged by Sikkim which scored 20.28. It was followed by Mizoram (16.93), Assam (16.38), Arunachal Pradesh (14.90), Nagaland (14.11), Tripura (12.84).
At the bottom of the ranking was Meghalaya which overall scored only 12.15.
The innovation inputs were measured through five enabler parameters, and the output through two performance parameters. While ‘Human Capital’, ‘Investment’, ‘Knowledge Workers’, ‘Business Environment’, ‘Safety and Legal Environment’ were identified as enabler parameters, ‘Knowledge Output’ and ‘Knowledge Diffusion’ were chosen as the performance parameters.
Meghalaya scored 19.23 in Enablers, 30.73 in Human Capital, 3.93 in Investment, 10.92 in Knowledge Workers, 4.33 in Business Environment, 46.26 in Safety and Legal Environment, 5.07 in Performance, 4.35 in Knowledge Output, and 5.79 in Knowledge Diffusion.
Under the ‘North-Eastern/Hill States’ category, Himachal Pradesh moved up from the second position to emerge as the top ranker this year, while 2019’s top performer (in this category), Sikkim, slipped down to the fourth position.
In the ‘Major States’ category, Karnataka continued to occupy the top position, while Maharashtra moved past Tamil Nadu to reach the second place. Telangana, Kerala, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab completed the top ten in that order.
Karnataka’s rank is attributable to its substantive number of venture capital deals, registered geographical indicators and information and communications technology exports.
Karnataka’s high Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow has also enhanced the innovation capabilities of the state. Four southern states-Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala-occupied the top five spots under the ‘Major States’ category this year.
Overall, Delhi retained its first rank, while Chandigarh made a big leap since 2019 and landed in the second place this year.
The India Innovation Index aims to create an extensive framework for the continual evaluation of India’s innovation environment. The index aims to rank states and union territories based on their scores, recognise opportunities and challenges, and assist in tailoring government policies to foster innovation.
The India Innovation Index 2020 was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr. Rajiv Kumar, in the presence of Member (Health) Dr. V K Paul, Member (Agriculture) Dr. Ramesh Chand, CEO Amitabh Kant, Adviser (Science and Technology) Neeraj Sinha, and Institute for Competitiveness Chair Dr. Amit Kapoor.
The event was attended by Department of Scientific and Industrial Research Secretary Dr. Shekhar C. Mande, Department of Biotechnology Secretary Dr. Renu Swarup, Ministry of Earth Sciences Secretary Dr. M N Rajeevan, Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, and Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Secretary Dr. Kshatrapati Shivaji, among others.
