Gujarat tops NITI Aayog’s export index on readiness

Gujarat topped the ranking of states in the first ever Export Preparedness Index released by the Niti Aayog which aims to assess the readiness of the states, in terms of their export potential and performance.

The index weighed all states and union territories on four pillars such as policy, business ecosystem, export ecosystem and export performance and 11 sub-pillars including export promotion policy, export infrastructure, access to finance, transport connectivity and export diversification.

Six of eight coastal states feature in the top ten rankings with Mahararashtra coming a close second behind Gujarat, indicating the presence of strong enabling and facilitating factors to promote exports. In the landlocked states, Rajasthan has performed the best, followed by Telangana and Haryana. Among the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand has the highest ranking, followed by Tripura and Himachal Pradesh. Across the Union Territories, Delhi has performed the best, followed by Goa and Chandigarh.

As of present, 70 per cent of India’s export has been dominated by five states – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. While Gujarat has the highest score of 75.14, Jammu & Kashmir has the lowest score of 12.27.

Niti Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said India’s exports sector holds immense potential to become a viable alternative supplier for some of the major economies. “To realize this potential, it is crucial that India turns to its states and union territories and makes them active participants in the country’s export efforts. This would be achieved by creating an enabling framework, establishing the required institutions, removing bottlenecks, and incentivizing exports. This will help India increase its share in global trade from the present 1.7% in 2018 to at least 5% in this decade,” he added.

The Survey established that the states that trade the most are the most competitive and run the largest trade surpluses. It also mentioned that states which engage with the world markets as well as with the other states within the country are richer. “The findings ascertained the conventional wisdom: a state’s GSDP per capita is highly correlated with its export share in GSDP. This implies that the participation of the states in the global economy, therefore, becomes vitally important for the economic growth and the standard of living for the states. This would contribute to the overall economic growth of the country,” the report said.

Niti Aayog chief executive officer Amitabh Kant said in the present crisis-hit world, while most countries are looking inward, India should use this opportune time to build its manufacturing capabilities to meet future global demand requirements. “India’s exports would need to be boosted through several policy mechanisms, including the improvement of Ease-of-Doing-Business, promoting size and scale as well as adapting to global standards,” he added.