• NITI Aayog released the second edition of the India Innovation Index on 20 January 2021, along with the Institute for Competitiveness.
• The report examines the innovation capabilities and performance of the states and union territories.
• The innovation index ranking is based on five enabler parameters (‘Human Capital’, ‘Investment’, ‘Knowledge Workers’, ‘Business Environment’, ‘Safety and Legal Environment’), and two performance parameters (‘Knowledge Output’ and ‘Knowledge Diffusion’).

List of top States in India Innovation Index 2021

• In the ‘Major States’ category, Karnataka occupied the top position, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu respectively.
• In UT and city states category, Delhi topped followed by Chandigarh.
• Under the ‘North-Eastern/Hill States’ category, Himachal Pradesh emerged as the top state.