‘Underperformer’ Goa ranks 16 in Niti Aayog export readiness list

PANAJI: In NITI Aayog’s first report to examine export preparedness and performance of Indian states, Goa has been classified as an under-performer and has ranked 16th at the national level. NITI Aayog has categorised Goa among Union territories, where the state comes second to Delhi.
As per the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2020 report, Goa has a score of 40.9 out of 100 and Delhi 45.8 for export preparedness. The national average is 50.

The lack of export infrastructure, trade support, and research and development infrastructure cost Goa with the state picking up an embarrassing score of 8 out of 100 for export ecosystem. The state got zero marks for export infrastructure, trade support, and R&D infrastructure.
What did work in the state’s favour are the dedicated export promotion policy and export performance with the state being classified as an over-performer in these categories. Goa got 66.16 for the export promotion policy and 52.16 for export performance.
NITI Aayog prepared the report in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness. It is meant to help states identify challenges and opportunities, enhance the effectiveness of government policies, and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework.
“The Indian economy holds immense potential to become a strong exporter on the world stage. To realise this potential, it is crucial that India turns to its states and Union territories and makes them active participants in the country’s export efforts,” said NITI Aayog vice chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar.
“It is hoped that the detailed insights from this index will guide all stakeholders towards strengthening the export ecosystem at both the national and sub-national levels.”
The data in the report showed that pharmaceutical products, iron ore and fish form the major chunk for Goa’s exports.
“Among the Union territories, Goa and Andaman and Nicobar islands have registered the best performance. For Goa, its mainly due to the high export to GDP ratio and increase in number of exporters,” said the NITI Aayog report.
Overall, most of the coastal states are the best performers. Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu occupy the top three ranks, respectively. Six of the eight coastal states feature in the top ten rankings, indicating the presence of strong enabling and facilitating factors to promote exports.
Chief executive officer, NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant said that the index would guide state governments to improve their performance with respect to export promotion.