New Delhi: Gujarat has ranked number one for the second time in a row in the Export Preparedness Index- 2021 of NITI Aayog. Most of the coastal states are the best performers. NITI Aayog, in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2021 on Tuesday. The report is a comprehensive analysis of India’s export achievements. The index can be used by states and union territories (UTs) to benchmark their performance against their peers and analyse potential challenges to develop better policy mechanisms to foster export-led growth at the sub-national level.

The Export Preparedness Index (EPI), a data-driven endeavour to identify the fundamental areas critical for sub-national export promotion, ranks states and UTs on four main pillars – policy; business ecosystem; export ecosystem; export performance, and 11 sub-pillars - export promotion policy; institutional framework; business environment; infrastructure; transport connectivity; access to finance; export infrastructure; trade support; R&D infrastructure; export diversification; and growth orientation.

NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar said that EPI 2021 will help the states and UTs in a long way to plan and execute sound export-oriented policies for ensuring a conducive export ecosystem, to make maximum utilization of their export potential. NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant emphasized that the second edition of the index will be a significant catalyst for promoting competitive federalism and a fair contest among states and UTs in the global export landscape. /BI/