NITI Aayog Releases Export Preparedness Index 2024 Highlighting State-Level Trade Readiness

New Delhi, Jan 15 (KNN) NITI Aayog on Thursday released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2024, highlighting the role of diverse subnational economic structures in driving India’s global trade goals. First published in August 2020, this marks the Index’s fourth edition.

The NITI Aayog CEO  B.V.R. Subrahmanyam noted that India’s export growth increasingly hinges on state and district preparedness. He stressed strengthening export infrastructure, enhancing cost competitiveness, building robust institutions, and ensuring transparent, predictable policies. 

Improving subnational export readiness is vital for sustaining growth, creating jobs, reducing regional disparities, and deepening integration into global value chains amid global volatility.

Framework and Structure of EPI 2024

The EPI 2024 is structured around four pillars, further disaggregated into thirteen sub-pillars and seventy indicators, enabling a granular and policy-relevant assessment of export preparedness. 

The pillars cover export infrastructure, business ecosystem, policy governance, export performance, trade and logistics infrastructure, access to finance and state export policy.

It also includes export outcomes, connectivity and utilities, human capital, institutional capacity, export diversification, industrial infrastructure, MSME ecosystem, trade facilitation, and global integration. 

Classification and Comparative Assessment

For comparison and peer learning, States and UTs are grouped into Large States & Small States, North East States, and Union Territories, and further ranked as Leaders, Challengers, or Aspirers. 

The Index focuses on district-level performance as the core measure of export competitiveness, translating national goals into actionable, place-based strategies leveraging local capabilities, industrial clusters, and value-chain linkages.

Top Performing States and UTs

Based on the overall EPI 2024 assessment, the leading performers among large States are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh. 

Among small States, North Eastern States, and Union Territories, the top performers are Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Dadra and Nagar Haveli & Daman and Diu, and Goa.

(KNN Bureau)