Gujarat tops NITI Aayog's first investment friendliness index; Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu follow
New Delhi: Gujarat has emerged as India’s most investment-friendly state in the first edition of NITI Aayog’s Investment Friendliness Index, ahead of Maharashtra and Tamil
New Delhi: Gujarat has emerged as India’s most investment-friendly state in the first edition of NITI Aayog’s Investment Friendliness Index, ahead of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, as the government’s policy think tank unveiled a new framework to assess how effectively states create an environment that attracts and sustains investments. The index was announced in the Union budget for 2026-27 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the ninth Governing Council meeting of NITI Aayog, called for an “Investment-Friendly Charter”, encouraging states to improve policies, regulatory clearances, land availability, power supply, water access and other factors influencing investment decisions. Unlike earlier assessments that focused largely on regulatory approvals and procedural reforms, the Investment Friendliness Index considers infrastructure quality, logistics, availability of skilled human resources, institutional capacity, fiscal health, environmental resilience and regulatory predictability to assess a state’s ability to attract, facilitate and sustain investments over the long term. The rankings assume significance as the Centre looks to strengthen the investment climate across states to sustain the momentum in foreign capital inflows. Against a target of attracting $100 billion foreign direct investment (FDI), gross inflows have risen to a record $94.53 billion in fiscal year 2026 (FY26) from $71.28 billion in FY24.
Who ranked where In the overall rankings, the top five were Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Goa and Odisha. Fifteen states, including Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, were placed in the ‘Frontrunners’ category, while eight each were classified as ‘Emerging Performers’ and ‘Aspiring’ states. Among the large states, Gujarat topped with a score of 56.6, followed by Maharashtra (53.7) and Tamil Nadu (53.3). Uttarakhand emerged as the best-performing state among hilly and northeastern states, ahead of Assam and Himachal Pradesh, while Goa led the rankings among Union territories and city states, followed by Delhi and Chandigarh. The rankings also reveal varying levels of investment readiness among historically less industrialised states. Odisha emerged as the fifth-best performing large state with a score of 52.4, while Madhya Pradesh ranked seventh with 48.9 points. Uttar Pradesh was placed 19th with a score of 45.0, while Jharkhand and Bihar ranked 25th and 26th with scores of 41.3 and 41.2, respectively. The report attributes Gujarat’s top ranking to its strong performance across infrastructure, business climate, financial health, regulatory systems and government policies.
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