Continuing with its poor performance in various national rankings, Meghalaya was ranked at the 32nd spot in the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2021.
The report which was released on March 25 was prepared by NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness.
Compared with the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020, Meghalaya has performed poorly this time. In EPI 2020 Meghalaya secured the 21st spot in the ranking.
The latest report is a comprehensive analysis of India’s export achievements. The index can be used by states and union territories (UTs) to benchmark their performance against their peers and analyse potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms to foster export-led growth at the subnational level.
In the overall rankings of 36 states and union territories, Gujarat topped the ranking with a score of 78.86 followed by Maharashtra with a score of 77.14 and Karnataka with a score of 61.72.
From the North East, Assam got the 15th rank with a score of 41.57. Tripura was ranked 25 with a score of 27.46. Nagaland was ranked 31 with a score of 13.99 followed by Meghalaya at 32 with a score of 13.39.
In the category wise ranking of Himalayan states, Meghalaya with a score of 13.39 got the seventh rank. Uttarakhand topped the ranking in this category with a score of 40.79 followed by Himachal Pradesh with a score of 40.43.
The other states of the North East in this category are Tripura (27.46), Sikkim (27.41), Manipur (15.78), Nagaland (13.99), Mizoram (12.58) and Arunachal Pradesh (11.18)
In terms of Policy Pillar, Madhya Pradesh topped the ranking among all states and union territories. Meghalaya was placed at the 29th rank.
In the Business Ecosystem Pillar, Delhi topped the ranking while Meghalaya was placed at the 31st rank. In the Export Ecosystem Pillar, Gujarat was on top while Meghalaya was at the 32nd rank. In the Export Performance Pillar, Gujarat again topped the ranking whereas Meghalaya was in the 29th rank.
The report also pointed out several shortcomings in states of the North East as far as promotion of export is concerned.
“In the discussion of gaining export competitiveness, states in the Himalayan region, such as Sikkim and Meghalaya, still struggle to uplift their export potential even after sharing borders with neighbouring countries. Consequently, their total performance has not improved since the first edition of the Export Preparedness Index in 2020,” the report said.
“A secure financial ecosystem gives a considerable boost to the business within states. However, the lack of availability and accessibility to credit facilities is impacting the export capacity of MSME in the hilly region. There is also a need for better coordination between North Eastern states and Centre. It can also play a vital role in improving their export performance,” it added.
As far as the institutional framework is concerned, the report stated that Meghalaya, Sikkim, Andaman and the Nicobar Islands have not constituted a District Export Promotion Committee (DEPC).
In terms of business environment, the report found that Meghalaya, Sikkim, Manipur and Mizoram have performed poorly as there was no investor’s summit in the last three years. Further, they have performed lowest on all parameters that matter for investment.
On export diversification, the report said that states in the Himalayan category have untapped potential as they have borderland advantages in trade. It also said that most North East states have the advantage of close trade borders with neighbouring countries.
The report said that these states have low business ecosystems “due to lack of infrastructure, volatile borders, weak business environment, and weak transport connectivity to support exports. The potentiality is immense, but regions need to identify industries and products with comparative advantage.”
