Karnataka tops Niti innovation list for 2nd time in a row

New Delhi: Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Kerala have been ranked as top five states in innovation in Niti Aayog's second Innovation Index released on Wednesday. The index, released by Aayog's vice chairman Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant, has been developed in the lines of Global Innovation Index. Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Bihar were ranked at the bottom of the Index.

Karnataka topped the Index for the second year in a row. Among Union Territories Delhi topped the chart, while in the North-Eastern and Hill States category Himachal Pradesh occupied the top spot. "Amongst major states, the average innovation score is 25.35. Karnataka tops at 42.5, which is attributable to its strong number of venture capital deals, registered GIs (Geographical Indications) and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) exports.

Karnataka's high FDI inflow has also enhanced the innovation capabilities of the state," the India Innovation Index 2020 said. Maharashtra was ranked second with an innovation score of 38, while Bihar finished last at 14.5. "The case for the southern states as the top performers has also become stronger as four of them occupy the top-five spots within the major states," it added. According to the index, the North-Eastern and Hill states achieved an average innovation score of 17.89, with Himachal Pradesh as the best performer with a score of 25, followed by Manipur (22.77) and Sikkim (22.28), respectively. "With 31.9 per cent of its total employment generated being knowledge-intensive, Himachal Pradesh benefits from a high number of knowledge workers," it said.

The Index noted that the innovation score of Union Territories and city states averages at 26.01. Delhi was the best performer among all groups. Among UTs, after Delhi, "Chandigarh follows second with a score of 38.57, whereas Lakshadweep and Jammu and Kashmir occupy the last two positions in the group respectively," it said.

Speaking at the event, Kumar said the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor and Niti Aayog are working closely to create a seamless interaction among institutions that are there in any city to improve India's innovation ecosystem. He also said that with the partnership with the Principal Scientific Advisor K Vijay Raghavan, the Niti Aayog is working very hard to try and bring back and attract Indian talent from abroad.

"There are some schemes (to bring back Indian talent) already, we want to sharpen them, we want to improve them," the Niti Aayog vice chairman said. "Maybe that will also become an indicator... Which state is able to attract a larger number of Indian talent back to the country, making our system more flexible, less red tape and by making our environment far more attractive," he added. The India Innovation Index 2020, ranks the states and union territories based on their relative performance of supporting innovation, and aims to empower them to improve their innovation policies by highlighting their strengths and weaknesses.