NITI Aayog Releases Second Edition of India Innovation Index



  • Overall Delhi Tops the List, Chandigarh Major Gainer, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh Lead in Their Respective Categories Posted On: 20 JAN 2021 6:32PM by PIB Delhi


  • NITI Aayog, along with the Institute for Competitiveness, today released thesecond edition of the India Innovation Index in a virtual event. 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.


  • The India Innovation Index 2020was released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar, in the presence ofMember (Health) DrVK Paul, Member (Agriculture)DrRamesh Chand, CEO Amitabh Kant, Adviser (Science and Technology) Neeraj Sinha, andInstitute 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 MN Rajeevan, Ministry of Civil Aviation Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, and Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation Secretary Dr Kshatrapati Shivaji, among others.


  • In the second edition too, theindex found that the level of competitiveness among the states and union territories was high, which is essential for them to continually improve on their enabling factors as well as innovation performance, year by year.


  • 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 andcommunications 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 itsfirst rank, while Chandigarh made a big leap since 2019 and landed in the second place this year. 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.


  • 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.


  • During the event, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumarsaid, ‘The India Innovation Index will create synergies between different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem, thus enabling India to shift to competitive good governance.’ He also said the index is a great beginning to improve the innovation environment in the country. It is the right step towards making India the innovation leader of the world.


  • NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said, ‘The India Innovation Index is a major step towards measuring innovation outcomes of states and facilitating optimal utilization of national and state mechanismsto realize the goal of an AatmanirbharBharat.’


  • ‘The index could be of vital significance to the states in identifying their innovation performance and initiating necessary policy interventions to leverage their unique strengths,’ said NITI Aayog Adviser Neeraj Sinha.


  • DrAmit Kapoor, Chair, Institute for Competitiveness, said, ‘The index can help the Central and state governments to benchmark regional performance with respect to innovation, and provide policy insights on what needs to be done to improve and enhance it.’


  • 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 UTs based on their scores, recognize opportunities and challenges, and assist in tailoring government policies to foster innovation.


  • NITI Aayog, with its mandate of promoting ‘competitive federalism’ among all states and union territories, is committed to utilize the India Innovation Index in catalysing the innovation outcome of the nation.


Launch of Regulatory Compliance Portal to minimize Regulatory Compliance Burden for Businesses and Citizens Posted On: 20 JAN 2021 5:51PM by PIB Delhi



  • India’s commitment to reforms is evident from the width and scale of reforms undertaken at pan- India level since 2014 under the visionary leadership of Hon. Prime Minister. This is reflected in the meteoric rise of India’s rank in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report from 142nd in 2014 to 63rd in 2019.


  • In order to translate the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan into a reality, the next generation of reforms relating to minimizing regulatory burden on businesses and citizens are being taken up by Central Ministries and States/UTs on a mission mode. Making Government to Business and Government to Citizen interfaces online, transparent and time bound are among the key priorities of the Government of India.


  • Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry has been directed by Cabinet Secretary to act as the nodal department for coordinating the exercise of minimizing regulatory compliance burden for citizens and businesses. A systematic exercise across Central Ministries/Departments and States/UTs is being undertaken by DPIIT to eliminate/reduce compliances which have an adverse impact on time and cost of businesses.


  • A major initiative in this regard is the launch of Regulatory Compliance Portal by DPIIT on 1stJanuary 2021. The objective of this portal is to act as a bridge between citizens, industries and the Government in order to minimize burdensome compliances. It will also act as a first-of-its-kind central online repository of all Central and State-level compliances.


  • All Central Ministries/Departments and States/UTs would examine laws/regulations/rules under their purview and implement an Action Plan to rationalize and simplify all the processes and remove burdensome compliances, decriminalize laws and repeal redundant Acts. These details would be captured and tracked on the Regulatory Compliance Portal. Industry stakeholders from Trade bodies such as CII, FICCI and ASSOCHAM would also be able to submit compliances and proposed recommendations.This will be assessed by concerned Government authorities and suitable action would be undertaken to minimize the regulatory compliance burden.


  • Performance of activities on this portal would be closely reviewed by the senior Government officers. Cabinet Secretary would have real-time comprehensive view of all compliances and status of all requests raised across Central Ministries/Departments and States/UTs. Customized reports of action taken by each Ministry/Department and State/UT also gets generated for monitoring and evaluation.


  • The Regulatory Compliance Portal will be instrumental in achieving the vision of a truly Atmanirbhar Bharat and help usher ease of doing business for industry and ease of living for citizens.