Manipur tops NITI Aayog’s latest innovation index

Manipur, Karnataka and Chandigarh have topped in their respective categories in the third and latest edition of NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index. 

Karnataka has topped again in the ‘Major States’ category, Manipur is leading the ‘North East and Hill States’ category and Chandigarh is the top performer in the ‘Union Territories and City States’ category, a NITI Aayog statement said. 

The third and latest edition of NITI Aayog highlights the scope of innovation analysis in the country by drawing on the framework of the Global Innovation Index. The number of indicators has increased from 36 (in the India Innovation Index 2020) to 66 (in the India Innovation Index 2021). The indicators are now distributed across 16 sub-pillars, which, in turn, form seven key pillars. 

The index was released on Thursday, July 21 by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery in the presence of member Dr VK Saraswat, CEO Parameswaran Iyer and senior advisor Neeraj Sinha, and Institute for Competitiveness Chairman Dr. Amit Kapoor. 

‘Innovation is the key to sustainable and inclusive growth. It can help us solve the biggest challenges of our times: bringing millions out of poverty, generating livelihood opportunities, and paving the way for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,’ said Dr Saraswat.

On the other hand Mr Iyer said, ‘I would like to reaffirm NITI Aayog’s continued commitment to monitoring the state of innovation in India through the India Innovation Index. We strive to improve the innovation ecosystem across the nation in partnership with the states and other stakeholders.’

The contours of the India Innovation Index 2021 remain the same as last year. Similar to the previous edition, the five ‘Enabler’ pillars measure inputs and the two ‘Performance’ pillars measure output. All the indicators in the Enabler pillars cover features crucial for promoting innovation within a state/union territory. Indicators in the Performance pillars represent a nation’s output in knowledge creation and competitiveness. 

The India Innovation Index 2021 is a testament to the Government of India’s continued commitment to transforming the country into an innovation-driven economy.

The India Innovation Index also contributes to the Government’s effort to monitor select global indices through the Global Indices to drive Reform and Growth (GIRG) mechanism, for which the NITI Aayog is the nodal organization.