‘Niti Aayog’s Export Preparedness Index 2020’

Published: 31st Aug, 2020

Niti Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness released the first Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020.

Context

Niti Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness released the first Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020.

About

What is Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020?

The EPI intends to identify challenges and opportunities and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework.
Parameters: The index ranked states on four key parameters –
- policy
- business ecosystem
- export ecosystem
- export performance
Sub-pillars: The index also took into consideration 11 sub-pillars -- 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.

Key-highlights of the Index

Gujarat has topped the Niti Aayog’s Export Preparedness Index 2020 followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu in the second and third place respectively.
Coastal States: Six coastal states -- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Karnataka and Kerala -- feature in the top ten rankings, indicating the presence of strong enabling and facilitating factors to promote exports.
Landlocked States: Among the landlocked states, Rajasthan has performed the best, followed by Telangana and Haryana.
Himalayan States: Among the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand topped the chart, followed by Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.
Union Territories: Across Union Territories, Delhi has performed the best, followed by Goa and Chandigarh.
The report stated that Chattisgarh and Jharkhand are two landlocked states that had initiated several measures to promote exports.

Fundamental Challenges

Based on the findings of the report, export promotion in India faces three fundamental challenges:
- intra- and inter-regional disparities in export infrastructure
- poor trade support and growth orientation among states
- poor R&D infrastructure to promote complex and unique exports

What needs to be done?

There is a need to emphasise on key strategies to address these challenges:
- a joint development of export infrastructure
- strengthening industry-academia linkages
- creating state-level engagements for economic diplomacy.
To achieve the target of making India a developed economy by focusing on 'Atmanirbhar Bharat,' there is a need to increase exports from all the states and Union Territories. The EPI provides invaluable insights on how states can attain this goal.

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