Secures highest rank in STEM enrolment
Panaji : Goa is among the top five states on NITI Aayog’s Investment Friendliness Index, as per a report released on Friday.
The state is ranked fourth in being investor friendly with an index rating of 53.1 points, vis-à-vis Gujarat which is at the top (56.6 points,) Maharashtra (53.7 points,) and Tamil Nadu (53.3 points.) In the fifth place is Odisha with an investor friendliness score of 52.4 points.
The report, released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri, said that Goa’s strong performance at the pan-India level is driven by the highest scores in both resources and regulatory ease pillars, with a respectable performance in infrastructure as well.
The state has the highest spending as a percentage of GSDP on skilling and healthcare investments, aiding its performance under the resources pillar.
A high proportion of STEM enrolment (25 per cent of higher education enrolment is in STEM courses), which supports a skilled and technology-oriented workforce, further aids its performance in resources.
The report however pointed out gaps in the institutional environment and mentioned it “as an area for improvement”.
The report said Goa secured the highest rank in STEM enrolment as a percentage of total enrolment in higher education. Additionally, the state is in the first position in vocational training capacity.
The report highlighted Goa’s strong performance in infrastructure on account of two international airports, which account for three per cent of the capacity of all airports in India. Its port capacity is also 3 per cent of the total in India, with dedicated terminals for handling containers, dry bulk and POL (petroleum, oil, and lubricants) products.
Goa’s top scores are despite the state accounting for only 0.35 per cent of India’s GDP contribution, pointed out the report.
“The state has the highest share of renewables in its power mix across all states and also scores well on the low share of T&D losses at just seven per cent,” the report said.
The Union Budget 2025-26 had announced the development of an Investment Friendliness Index (IFI) to strengthen the spirit of competitive and cooperative federalism by promoting reforms and fostering a conducive investment ecosystem across states.
The IFI is based on a structured and data-driven framework for assessing how effectively states and Union territories create, enable, and sustain an environment conducive to investments.
The index evaluates key policy, institutional, regulatory, and infrastructure-related parameters that influence investment decisions and provides a comparative assessment of the investment ecosystem across states.
The rankings had three categories – large states, hilly and northeastern states and city states and UTs, as per the report.
