Odisha has been ranked 12th among 29 States in the India Innovation Index (III), 2019,  a NITI Aayog report released in New Delhi on Thursday.

Karnataka is the most innovative major State as per the list published in partnership with the Institute for Competitiveness. Odisha has positioned itself above Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh are the other major 10 States positioned between Karnataka and Odisha.

Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh are the most efficient States in translating inputs into output.

NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr Rajiv Kumar expressed hope that the India Innovation Index would create synergies between different stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem and India would shift to competitive good governance.

While India has a unique opportunity to become the innovation leader in the world, cluster-based innovation should be leveraged upon as the focal point of competitiveness. The index is a great beginning to improve the environment of innovation in the country as it focuses on both the input and output components of the idea, viewed others present at the releasing ceremony.

The aim of the Innovative India Index is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing the economic growth policies for their respective regions.

The States have been bifurcated into three categories: major States, north-east, and hill States, and Union Territories/city States/small States.