Karnataka tops rank in Niti Aayog’s India Innovation Index, 2020

Karnataka has retained its position as the top ranking major State in Niti Aayog’s India Innovation Index 2020, which ranks different States based on how they supported innovation and disruptive technologies. The index was released on Wednesday.

Maharashtra grabbed the second position in the index, followed by Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala.

“Innovation will play a key role in upholding the spirit of ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, by giving the required thrust through Competitive Federalism,”said NITI Aayog’s CEO, Amitabh Kant, at the launch of the report.

North-East and Hill States

Himachal Pradesh topped a separate index carved out for ten North East and Hill States followed by Uttarakhand and Manipur while Delhi was ranked the highest amongst Union Territories and City States, with Chandigarh and Daman & Diu at the second and third places, respectively.

The first edition of the index was launched in October 2019 to showcase the government’s initiative to create an innovation-driven economy and the index will help in recognising areas of developmental intervention, with innovation as the central driver for growth.

“The findings of India Innovation Index, 2020 highlight that we are on the right track, with States taking several measures to improve their innovation ecosystem in the spirit of Competitive Federalism,” said NITI Aayog’s Vice-Chairman, Rajiv Kumar.

“The 2020 edition builds on the previous year’s methodology by introducing more metrics to provide a more holistic outlook of the Indian economy. The framework is updated to include globally considered parameters for measuring innovation, such as the percentage of GDP spent on research and development, while keeping them specific to the Indian economy,” according to the report.

With the pandemic triggering an economic shutdown, the role of innovation to revitalise the economy has never been more important, it added.