NITI Aayog released the third edition of the report titled ‘Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2022’ for States/UTs of India today. The report aims to promote regional competitiveness and enhance India’s export potential by examining exports at the district level. (Image Shutterstock)

Indian exports have shown resilience in the post-pandemic era by overcoming supply-chain and geopolitical challenges. To maintain this momentum, India needs to unlock the export potential of its states and districts. (Image Shutterstock)

Objective: The EPI 2022 report seeks to empower State governments with region-specific insights to assist decision-making, identify strengths, address weaknesses, and foster comprehensive growth across States and UTs of India. (Representative Image)

Framework: The EPI 2022 report introduces a framework that fosters competitiveness within the country. It evaluates the performance of the states and UTs across four pillars – Policy, Business Ecosystem, Export Ecosystem, and Export Performance. The index uses 56 indicators that capture the export preparedness of States and UTs in terms of exports at both the state and district level. (Image Shutterstock)

Policy Pillar: This pillar evaluates states' and UTs’ performance based on their adoption of export-related policy ecosystems at a state and district level as well as the institutional framework surrounding the ecosystem. (Image Shutterstock)

Business Ecosystem Pillar: This pillar assesses the prevailing business environment in a state/UT, along with the extent of business-supportive infrastructure, and a state/UTs’ transport connectivity. (Image Shutterstock)

Export Ecosystem Pillar: This pillar focuses on the export-related infrastructure in a state along with the trade support provided to the exporters, and the prevalence of Research and Development in the state to foster innovation. (Image Shutterstock)

Export Performance Pillar: This pillar is an output-based indicator that gauges the growth of a state’s export over the previous year and analyses its export concentration and footprint on the global markets. (Image Shutterstock)

Sub-Pillars: The four pillars are further based on ten sub-pillars – Export Promotion Policy; Institutional Framework; Business Environment; Infrastructure; Transport Connectivity; Export Infrastructure; Trade Support; R&D Infrastructure; Export Diversification; and Growth Orientation. (Image Shutterstock)

Findings: The EPI 2022 Report observed that most ‘Coastal States’ have performed well, with the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat being the top performers in the Export Preparedness Index across the country, in all categories of states. (Image Shutterstock)

Policy Ecosystem: The report highlights the efforts of state governments in improving the policy ecosystem by creating export promotion policies and district-level export action plans. It also suggests scope for improvement in the business and export ecosystem in many states. (Image Shutterstock)

Context-Specific Solutions: The report encourages state governments to create solutions to their context-specific challenges to exports. It also urges states to exploit their innate diversity by promoting products unique to them and reaching the global market. (Representative Image)

Innovation and Diversification: The report emphasizes the need for consistent investment in research and development to foster innovation, which can facilitate higher efficiency and diversification of India’s export basket. It also recommends the identification of new markets and exporting products according to the state’s competitive advantage. (Image Shutterstock)

Competitive Federalism: The report aims to facilitate competitive federalism in the country, which creates a spirit of healthy competition and peer learning among the states. It also acknowledges the role of cooperative federalism in creating a conducive export environment. (Image Shutterstock)

Data Availability: The report notes the importance of data availability for a comprehensive evaluation of the export preparedness of states. It points out the gaps in data on the source of origin of export and service exports at the sub-national level. It suggests that states can use this index to improve their data collection and analysis. (Image Shutterstock)