NITI Aayog launches India Innovation Index 2019

NITI Aayog launches India Innovation Index 2019

Karnataka tops the Innovation Index followed by Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, and Delhi

NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner released the India Innovation Index (III) 2019. Karnataka is the most innovative major state in India. Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh form the remaining top ten major states respectively. The top ten major states are majorly concentrated in southern and western India. Sikkim and Delhi take the top spots among the north- eastern & hill states, and union territories/city states/small states respectively. Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient states in translating inputs into output.

India Innovation Index would create synergies between different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem and India would shift to competitive good governance.” Shri Amitabh Kant added that “India has a unique opportunity among its myriad challenges to become the innovation leader in the world.” Renu Swarup said, “cluster-based innovation should be leveraged upon as the focal point of competitiveness.” Shri Ashutosh Sharma said, “The index is a great beginning to improve the environment of innovation in the country as it focuses on both the input and output components of the idea.” Shri Vaidya Kotecha said, “The index is a good effort to benchmark the performance of the state with each other and promote competitive federalism.”

The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories. The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies for their regions. The states have been bifurcated into three categories: major states, north-east, and hill states, and union territories/city states/small states.

Background:

Recognizing the role of innovation as a key driver of growth and prosperity for India, NITI Aayog with Institute for Competitiveness as the knowledge partner has released the India Innovation Index 2019. The study is an outcome of extensive research and analysis, which looks holistically at the innovation landscape of India by examining the innovation capabilities and performance of Indian states and union territories. The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies for their regions.

The index attempts to create an extensive framework for the continual evaluation of the innovation environment of 29 states and seven union territories in India and intends to perform the following three functions- 1) ranking of states and UTs based on their index scores, 2) recognizing opportunities and challenges, and 3) assisting in tailoring governmental policies to foster innovation.

The India Innovation Index 2019 is calculated as the average of the scores of its two dimensions – Enablers and Performance. The Enablers are the factors that underpin innovative capacities, grouped in five pillars: (1) Human Capital, (2) Investment, (3) Knowledge Workers, (4) Business Environment, and (5) Safety and Legal Environment. The Performance dimension captures benefits that a nation derives from the inputs, divided in two pillars: (6) Knowledge Output and (7) Knowledge Diffusion.

The index presents the latest findings and highlights the regional catalysts and caveats for promoting innovation readiness. The Report offers a comprehensive snapshot of the innovation ecosystem of 29 states and seven union territories. It also includes a section on state profiles covering 33 indicators looking at the different facets of innovation in India.

The index shows that the innovation ecosystem of the country is strong in south and western parts of India. In fact, three of the top five major states are from southern India. Delhi and Haryana seem to be an exception to this rule and seem to be doing well on the Index. Thus, there seems to be a west-south and north-east divide across the country.

The states have been bifurcated into three categories: major states, north-east and hill states, and union territories / city states / small states. Karnataka is the leader in the overall rankings in the category of major states. Karnataka’s number one position in the overall ranking is partly attributed to its top rank in the Performance dimension. It is also among the top performers in Infrastructure, Knowledge Workers, Knowledge Output and Business Environment.

Among the category of major states, Maharashtra performs the best in the dimension of Enablers. This implies that it has the best enabling environment for innovation, even though the state comes in at the third position in the overall innovation index.

The broad level learnings and some policy imperatives at the national level include increasing the spending on research and development, improving the capability of top rung educational institutions in the country to produce greater innovation outputs. There is also a need for greater coordination and collaboration between the industry and educational institutions for enhancing innovation capability. A collaborative platform consisting of all the stakeholders of innovation – innovators, researchers, and investors from the industry should be developed. This will help in strengthening the industry-academia linkages and will ease the process of technology transfer by providing a platform for innovators to showcase their inventions.

At the state level, broad level key learning includes forming policies at the state level that seek to improve the innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Cluster development programs are also an area in need of greater coordination and can benefit from a more open collaborative approach. Also, the industrial policies at the state level should focus more on innovation. At present only a few policies exist for innovation even in the most innovative states and union territories.

प्रतीकात्मक चित्रनीति आयोग ने गुरुवार को पहला ‘इंडिया इनोवेशन इंडेक्स’ जारी किया जिसमें कर्नाटक ने प्रमुख राज्यों की श्रेणी में, दिल्ली ने केंद्र शासित प्रदेशों में और सिक्किम ने पहाड़ी राज्यों में पहला स्थान हासिल किया है। ग्लोबल इनोवेशन इंडेक्स की तर्ज पर तैयार इस सूचकांक का मकसद राज्यों और केंद्र शासित प्रदेशों में इनोवेशन से जुड़ी व्यवस्था का आकलन करना है ताकि इसके आधार पर नीति निर्माता अपनी योजनाओं को दिशा दे सकें। नीति आयोग यह परखने की कोशिश कर रहा है कि किस राज्य में सामाजिक-आर्थिक विकास के लिए सरकार और समाज द्वारा क्या नई पहलकदमियां की जा रही हैं। बिजनेस के ढांचे से लेकर तकनीक तक में किस तरह के नए काम किए जा रहे हैं। यह भी कि राज्य के प्राकृतिक संसाधनों, तकनीक और मानव संसाधन के बीच कैसा तालमेल है। नए काम में किस तरह की मुश्किलें सामने आईं और इसके लिए क्या उन्होंने किसी तरह की मदद ली। यह भी कि नई पहलकदमियों ने वहां के लोगों के जीवन पर क्या असर डाला। यह सब जानने के लिए दो प्रदर्शन के पैमाने और पांच सक्षम बनाने वाले पैमाने तय किए गए हैं।

सक्षम बनाने वाले पैमानों में मानव संसाधन, निवेश, कारोबार का माहौल, सुरक्षा और कानूनी वातावरण को रखा गया है जबकि ज्ञान के उत्पादन और ज्ञान के प्रसार को प्रदर्शन का पैमाना माना गया है। इनोवेशन या नवाचार कई जगहों पर सरकार के प्रयासों से संभव हुआ तो कुछ जगहों पर यह समाज के द्वारा स्वत:स्फूर्त ढंग से भी हुआ। देश के कुछ खास इनोवेशन हब्स पर नजर डालें तो पुणे सभी तरह की शिक्षा के लिए, बेंगलुरु इंजीनियरिंग के लिए और कोटा इंजीनियरिंग-मेडिकल की कोचिंग के लिए जाना जाता है। इसके लिए किसी विशेष सरकारी प्रयास की जरूरत नहीं पड़ी। लेकिन हैदराबाद को आईटी हब और नोएडा को मोबाइल हब बनाने में सरकारों ने काफी प्रयास किए। बिहार अन्य स्तरों पर नवाचार में भले ही पीछे हो लेकिन शिक्षा में उसकी पहल उल्लेखनीय है। बांका में शिक्षा विभाग ने पढ़ाई का एक मॉडल बनाया जिसे देश-दुनिया में पहचान मिली।
लोक शिकायत अधिकार का कानून बनाने वाला पहला राज्य बिहार बना। इससे लोगों की समस्याओं का समाधान समय से हो पा रहा है। उत्तराखंड ने कारोबार आसान करने के लिए कई कानूनों को सरल किया और इसके लिए सिंगल विंडो सिस्टम लागू किया जिससे उसे एक लाख करोड़ रुपये से ज्यादा का निवेश मिला। समाज की सोच बदल रही है। परिवर्तन की इच्छाशक्ति पैदा हुई है। ऐसा माहौल बना है कि हम अगर कुछ नया करने की ठान लें तो आगे बढ़ सकते हैं। देखना होगा कि कुछ क्षेत्र इनोवेशन में पिछड़ क्यों रहे हैं। उनकी तरफ मदद का हाथ बढ़ाया जाए। इसी तरह व्यक्तिगत स्तर पर जारी नवाचार की कोशिशों को प्रोत्साहन देने की व्यवस्था भी होनी चाहिए।