India Innovation Index, 2020

The NITI Aayog is to launch the second edition of India Innovation Index. The Index ranks states of the country based on how they support innovation. The first edition of India Innovation Index was launched in 2019.

About India Innovation Index

The India Innovation Index was developed on the lines of Global Innovation Index. It attempts to create an extensive framework for the continuous evaluation of the innovation environment of the states and union territories in India.

The index is calculated as the average of scores of two dimensions namely enablers and performance. The enablers provide the innovative capacities of the states and the performers give the benefits derived by the nation from the state’s innovation. The enablers are human capital, investment, business environment, knowledge workers and safety and legal environment. The performance parameters are knowledge diffusion and knowledge output.

Importance of India Innovation Index

India has huge opportunities and potential to become the innovation leader of the world. The Innovation Index will act as an evaluator of innovation in the country. This will help to channelize the improvement of innovation environment. Also, it will promote competitive federalism among the states.

India Innovation Index, 2019

Karnataka emerged as the topper in overall rankings in the category of major states in India Innovation Index, 2019. Maharashtra performed the best in the dimension of Enablers. Sikkim topped the ranking in north eastern states category and Delhi topped the list in the category of Union Territories.

Way forward

There is a need to improve the capability of top rung education institutions in the country to produce greater innovation outputs. Also, the spending on research and development should be increased with greater collaboration between the educational institutions and industries. A collaborative platform with innovators, investors and researchers will strengthen industry-academia linkages and will ease the technology transfer processes.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2021