Karnataka tops in India Innovation Index by NITI Ayog

India Innovation Index 2020, released by NITI Ayog, identified Karnataka with a score of 42.5 as the best performer among Indian states mainly attributed to its number of venture capital deals, registered GIs and ICT exports while Delhi (46.6) topped among Union Territories. The average score of Indian states was found to be 23.4 out of 100. Among states, Bihar was observed to have the least score of 14.5.

Regional inequality in performance became evident in the latest Innovation Index. Four of the southern states occupied the top five positions. While the average score of major states points at 25.35, the North East and Hill states have an average innovation score of 17.89 only.

A positive correlation between Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) with innovation index ranking indicates that higher economic growth leads to more innovation and vice versa. However, the business environment indicator has not achieved appreciable levels due to the lack of incubator centres and common facility centres. "In order to make the business environment more conducive, internet penetration and digital literacy are another areas that states can improve to ensure better facilitation of digital activities and online transactions," Innovative Index report said.

The index is meant to examine the existing innovation landscape in the country to identify strengths and weakness. Measurement of index for individual units includes an analysis of two dimensions- enablers and performance- with seven pillars and 36 indicators between them.