NITI Aayog on Wednesday released the Export Preparedness Index 2024, presenting a comprehensive and data driven assessment of export readiness across Indian States and Union Territories. The fourth edition of the Index builds on earlier assessments to reflect the growing importance of subnational economies in shaping India’s external trade performance and long term growth trajectory.
Aligned with India’s objective of achieving one trillion dollars in merchandise exports by 2030 and the broader vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, the Export Preparedness Index provides an evidence based framework to evaluate the strength, resilience and inclusiveness of export ecosystems at the State and district levels. The Index recognises the diversity of regional economic structures and identifies structural gaps, growth enablers and policy priorities required to enhance export competitiveness across the country.
At the release, the leadership of NITI Aayog underscored that India’s export momentum is increasingly determined by the preparedness of States and districts. Emphasis was placed on strengthening trade and logistics infrastructure, improving cost competitiveness, building robust institutions and ensuring predictable and transparent policy environments. Enhancing subnational export readiness was highlighted as critical for sustaining long term economic growth, generating employment, reducing regional disparities and deepening integration into global value chains amid rising global uncertainty.
The Index also reinforced the importance of quality and competitiveness of Indian products in global markets, noting that States and Union Territories must identify their comparative strengths, address structural constraints and design targeted strategies to leverage emerging trade opportunities.
Framework and Coverage
The Export Preparedness Index 2024 is structured around four core pillars, disaggregated into thirteen sub pillars and seventy indicators, allowing for a granular and policy relevant assessment of export preparedness.
Pillars of Export Preparedness Index 2024
• Export Infrastructure
• Business Ecosystem
• Policy and Governance
• Export Performance
The analytical depth of the 2024 edition has been strengthened through the inclusion of new dimensions such as macroeconomic stability, cost competitiveness, human capital, access to finance and the MSME ecosystem. Existing indicators have been refined to improve precision and policy relevance.
Classification of States and Union Territories
For meaningful comparison and peer learning, States and Union Territories have been grouped into Large States, Small States, North Eastern States and Union Territories. Within each category, they are classified into three performance tiers.
Performance Categories under EPI 2024
• Leaders – States and Union Territories demonstrating relatively high export preparedness
• Challengers – States and Union Territories with moderate preparedness and clear scope for improvement
• Aspirers – States and Union Territories at an early stage of export ecosystem development
The Index places strong emphasis on districts as the foundational units of export competitiveness, translating national export objectives into place based strategies rooted in local industrial clusters, skills, infrastructure and value chain linkages.
Methodology and Data Sources
The Export Preparedness Index 2024 follows a rigorous indicator based methodology drawing on official datasets from Central Ministries, State Governments and public institutions. Indicators are normalised and aggregated using standard statistical techniques, with balanced weightages assigned across pillars and sub pillars to reflect their contribution to export preparedness.
Methodological refinements introduced in this edition aim to enhance robustness, comparability and policy usefulness. Detailed methodology, indicator definitions and State wise scores are provided in the Export Preparedness Index 2024 report.
Pillar Weightages
• Export Infrastructure – 20 percent
• Business Ecosystem – 40 percent
• Policy and Governance – 20 percent
• Export Performance – 20 percent
Top Performing States and Union Territories
Based on the overall assessment under Export Preparedness Index 2024, the following States and Union Territories have emerged as leading performers in their respective categories.
Large States
• Maharashtra
• Tamil Nadu
• Gujarat
• Uttar Pradesh
• Andhra Pradesh
Small States North Eastern States and Union Territories
• Uttarakhand
• Jammu and Kashmir
• Nagaland
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu
• Goa
The Export Preparedness Index 2024 provides policymakers, industry and States with a structured roadmap to strengthen export competitiveness by aligning infrastructure development, institutional capacity and policy reforms with regional strengths. The Index reinforces the central role of States and districts in advancing India’s global trade ambitions through coordinated and evidence based action.
