INDIA INNOVATION INDEX 2021

• It was the third edition of the Innovation Index Report by the Niti Aayog.
• 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.

About Innovation index

• The India Innovation Index is a comprehensive tool for the evaluation and development of the country’s innovation ecosystem which ranks the states and the union territories on their innovation performance to build healthy competition amongst them.
• This index has been developed in the line with the Global Innovation Index (GII) to strengthen the innovation ecosystem of Indian state and union territories and to design policies to drive innovation across the region.
• 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.

Indicator used

The indicator which the survey has used is the level and quality of education and the various parameter such as:

• Internet subscriber
• FDI inflows, business environment and safety, and legal environment
• Investment in the research and development and several patent and trademark applications filed.
• Number of Ph.D. students and knowledge-intensive employment.

Categories: The innovation Index is divided into three categories that are major states, union territories, and hill and northeast states.

Ranking of states

• Karnataka stood at the first position with a score of 18.01 followed by Telangana, Haryana, and Maharashtra in the major state categories
• Bottom state: Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Bihar scored the lowest on the index which put them at the bottom in the major state category
• Chhattisgarh ranked last with a 10.97 score

Hill and northeast state

• Manipur topped the ranking of hill and northeast states, followed by Uttarakhand, Meghalaya, and Arunachal Pradesh
• Nagaland ranked last in these categories

Union territories/small state

• Chandigarh has scored the highest on the index with a score of 27.88 followed by Delhi and the Andaman and Nicobar Island.

The merit of the innovation index

• It helps in solving the biggest challenges of present times: bringing millions out of poverty, generating livelihood opportunities, and paving the way for an Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
• Innovation index is critical in promoting the country’s resilience and self-reliance.
• The index also draws some international parallels, which will add to India’s learnings and how we can be on a par with our counterparts.
• 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.
• Innovation is a key to promote sustainable and inclusive growth in the country.

Challenges

• Need for micro-analysis of State-level policies: For a country as large as India, the state of innovation needs to be understood at mostly the regional level for effective policy formulation.

Based on the index each state needs to formulate its own policy, based on its unique resources and strengths.

• Attracting Private Investment in Research - The Indian government is a major spender in R&D, while the investment of the private sector is very low when compared to countries like Israel where private companies account for 70% of private investment in R&D.

The focus must be on investing more in research and development. Increased spending on research and development with greater collaboration between the industry and educational institutions may help to enhance innovation capability in the country.