Gujarat has retained the top position at the NITI Aayog’s second edition of the Export Preparedness Index 2021 followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as the top 10 performers.

Among union territories, Delhi has topped the index followed by Goa, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh and Puducheery while Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Sikkim and Manipur were at the top five paces among Himalayan states.

The index, prepared by NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness, is a comprehensive analysis of India’s export achievements. The index is used to benchmark the performance of states and UTs against their peers and analyse potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms to foster export-led growth at the subnational level.

The EPI ranks states and UTs on four main pillars, policy; business ecosystem; export ecosystem and export performance along with and 11 sub-pillars that includes export promotion policy; institutional framework; business environment; infrastructure; transport connectivity; access to finance; export infrastructure; trade support; R&D infrastructure; export diversification and growth orientation.

As per the 2021 Index, the three major challenges to India’s export promotion include intra- and inter-regional differences in export infrastructure; weak trade support and growth orientation across states; and lack of R&D infrastructure to promote complex and unique exports.

“The EPI 2021 will help the states and UTs in a long way to plan and execute sound export-oriented policies for ensuring a conducive export ecosystem, to make maximum utilization of their export potential,” NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar said while releasing the index on Friday.