NITI Aayog on Wednesday released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2024, a comprehensive assessment of export readiness across India’s States and Union Territories (UTs). The Index acknowledges the diversity of subnational economic structures and their critical role in advancing India’s global trade ambitions. First published in August 2020, the latest edition marks the fourth iteration of the Index.
Aligned with India’s goal of achieving USD 1 trillion in merchandise exports by 2030 and the 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 subnational level. The Index identifies key structural challenges, growth drivers and policy opportunities to enhance export competitiveness across States and districts.
Speaking at the release, the CEO of NITI Aayog underlined that India’s export trajectory is increasingly being shaped by the preparedness of States and districts. He emphasised the need to strengthen export infrastructure, improve cost competitiveness, build robust institutions and foster predictable and transparent policy environments. Enhancing export readiness at the subnational level was described as essential for sustaining long-term growth, generating employment, reducing regional disparities and enabling deeper integration into global value chains amid rising global volatility.
NITI Aayog Member Dr Arvind Virmani highlighted the role of States and UTs in sustaining and amplifying export momentum by identifying strengths, addressing structural gaps and designing strategies to leverage emerging trade opportunities. He also reiterated the Prime Minister’s emphasis on product quality as a key factor in global competitiveness.
The Export Preparedness Index 2024 is structured around four pillars—Export Infrastructure, Business Ecosystem, Policy and Governance, and Export Performance. These pillars are further broken down into 13 sub-pillars and 70 indicators, allowing for a granular and policy-relevant assessment of export preparedness.
The pillars cover critical areas such as trade and logistics infrastructure, connectivity and utilities, industrial infrastructure, access to finance, human capital, MSME ecosystem, state export policy, institutional capacity, trade facilitation, export outcomes, export diversification and global integration. The 2024 edition strengthens analytical depth through the inclusion of new dimensions such as macroeconomic stability, cost competitiveness, human capital development, financial access and the MSME ecosystem, while refining existing indicators to enhance precision and policy relevance.
For comparative assessment and peer learning, States and UTs have been categorised into Large States, Small States, North Eastern States and Union Territories. Within each category, they are further classified as Leaders, Challengers and Aspirers, based on their level of export preparedness.
Greater emphasis has been placed on districts as the core units of export competitiveness, translating national export objectives into actionable, place-based strategies rooted in local capabilities, industrial clusters and value-chain linkages.
The Index follows a data-driven, indicator-based methodology, drawing on official datasets from Central Ministries, State Governments and public institutions. Indicators are normalised and aggregated using appropriate statistical techniques, with balanced weightages assigned across pillars and sub-pillars to reflect their relative contribution to export preparedness. Methodological refinements in the 2024 edition aim to improve robustness, comparability and policy relevance. Detailed findings, indicator definitions and State-wise results are available in the Export Preparedness Index 2024 report.
