Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has expressed satisfaction at Uttarakhand being placed at the top along with Himachal Pradesh and Sikkim among north-eastern and hill States in the India innovation index released by the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. He said that this initiative of the NITI Aayog will motivate the States to do better work in the sphere of innovations.

This development will also set a new pattern in the development of Uttarakhand. Rawat said that effective measures have been taken during the term of the current government to encourage investments in the state. An investors summit was held for the first time in the state last year and proposals received in this summit have been efficiently followed up. The positive results of these efforts have also started becoming visible.  Uttarakhand has capable human resource. The youth are being encouraged for start-ups and the state government is eager to boost innovations, he said.

It is pertinent to mention here that on Thursday, the NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar and chief executive officer Amitabh Kant released an innovation index on the lines of global innovation index. The index released by NITI Aayog outlines the performance of states in the area of innovation. In the north eastern and hill states category, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have the top index. The other states securing top positions include Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Haryana.