NITI Aayog Releases Second Edition of Export Preparedness Index 2021

What is the News?

NITI Aayog has released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2021. 

What is the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2021?

Released by: NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness

Aim: To examine export readiness and export performance of the Indian States and Union Territories.

Objective: To instil competition among all Indian states to bring about a) favourable export-promotion policies, b) ease the regulatory framework to prompt subnational export promotion, c) create the necessary infrastructure for exports and d) assist in identifying strategic recommendations for improving export competitiveness. 

Parameters: The index ranks states and UTs on 4 main pillars and 11 sub-pillars.The four pillars include-

– Policy- A comprehensive trade policy provides a strategic direction for exports and imports.

– Business Ecosystem- It examines the business ecosystem, as an efficient business ecosystem can help attract investments and create an enabling infrastructure for businesses to grow.

– Export Ecosystem- It aims to assess the business environment, specific to exports.

– Export Performance- It examines the reach of export footprints of states and union territories.

Significance of the index: The index can be used by states and union territories (UTs) to benchmark their performance against their peers and analyze potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms to foster export-led growth at the subnational level

What are the key Rankings of the index?

States: Gujarat has retained the top position in the index, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Union Territories: Delhi has topped the index, followed by Goa.

The index has found that most of the ‘Coastal States’ are the best performers. 

The top-six states in India —Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana —contribute 75% of India’s overall exports.

What are the challenges in export promotion?

The index brings out three major challenges to India’s export promotion. These are: 1) Intra- and inter-regional differences in export infrastructure, 2) Weak trade support and growth orientation across states and 3) Lack of R&D infrastructure to promote complex and unique exports.

Source: This post is based on following articles:

–  “NITI Aayog Releases Second Edition of Export Preparedness Index 2021” published in PIB on 25th March 2022.

– “Gujarat tops Niti Aayog’s export index for second year in a row” published in Business Standard on 26th March 2022.