NITI Aayog on Wednesday released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) 2024, offering a detailed assessment of export readiness across Indian states and Union Territories, as the country works towards its target of achieving $1 trillion in merchandise exports by 2030.
The index is aligned with the national development vision of Viksit Bharat @2047 and aims to provide an evidence-based framework to evaluate the strength, resilience and inclusiveness of export ecosystems at the subnational level. It identifies structural challenges, growth drivers and policy opportunities to enhance export competitiveness across states and districts.
Speaking at the release, NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer B.V.R. Subrahmanyam said India’s export growth is increasingly dependent on the preparedness of its states and districts. He stressed the need to strengthen export infrastructure, improve cost competitiveness, build effective institutions and ensure predictable and transparent policy frameworks. According to him, improving export readiness at the subnational level is critical for sustaining long-term economic growth, generating employment, reducing regional disparities and integrating India more deeply into global value chains at a time of rising global uncertainty.
The Export Preparedness Index 2024 is structured around four core pillars, which are further divided into 13 sub-pillars and supported by 70 indicators. This framework allows for a granular and policy-relevant evaluation of export preparedness, enabling states to identify specific areas requiring intervention.
The latest edition of the index expands its analytical scope by introducing new dimensions such as macroeconomic stability, cost competitiveness, human capital availability, access to finance and the performance of the MSME ecosystem. Existing indicators have also been refined to improve precision and policy relevance.
For comparative analysis and peer learning, states and Union Territories have been grouped into large states and small states, north-eastern states, and Union Territories. Within each category, regions have been classified as Leaders, Challengers and Aspirers based on their overall performance.
A key feature of the 2024 index is its increased focus on districts as the fundamental units of export competitiveness. The approach seeks to translate national export ambitions into actionable, place-based strategies rooted in local industrial clusters, value-chain linkages and regional capabilities.
The index follows a data-driven and indicator-based methodology, drawing from official datasets provided by central ministries, state governments and public institutions. Indicators are normalised and aggregated using statistical techniques, with balanced weightages assigned across pillars and sub-pillars to reflect their relative importance in export preparedness.
According to the overall assessment under EPI 2024, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh emerged as the top-performing states in the large states category.
NITI Aayog member Arvind Virmani highlighted the importance of state and Union Territory-level action in sustaining and expanding India’s export momentum. He noted that the index can help governments identify strengths, address structural gaps and design targeted strategies to capitalise on emerging trade opportunities.
The Export Preparedness Index 2024 is expected to serve as a policy tool for states and districts to strengthen export ecosystems and align local development strategies with national trade objectives.
