Innovation Index Ranking by NITI Aayog out!

The innovation index 2020 released by NITI Aayog on Wednesday, finds Delhi to be the most innovative among UTs and Karnataka among the states. Maharashtra has overtaken Tamil Nadu to stand second among the key states. Himachal Pradesh has performed best among North Eastern and Hilly states with an index of 25. And, South India remains the most innovative destination with as many as 4 states among the 5 toppers.

The overall picture however is a little disappointing. Though Delhi with an index of 46.6 and Karnataka with an index of 42.5 have been the star performers. The average score of 25.35 for the states and 26.01 for the UTs indicates the huge scope of improvement. Further, the average score for north-eastern and hilly states is merely 17.89 out of 100. This points out the huge disparity prevalent in terms of innovation.

Low scores opine poor spending on R&D by the states. R&D spending in India has remained constant at 0.6-0.7% of GDP which is much lower than expenditure by countries like China (2.1%), the US (2.8%), leaving aside highly spending countries like South Korea (4.2%), and Israel (4.3%). Furthermore, India shows a divergence in the pattern of spending when compared to the developed countries. While advanced countries have the private sector as the major driving force, India relies on the government. That too is mostly by the Centre.